Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on MARA (NASDAQ:MARA)

MARA Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 344,399 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 65% compared to the typical daily volume of 209,071 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on MARA shares. HC Wainwright assumed coverage on MARA in a research report on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on MARA from $16.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on MARA from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MARA from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of MARA in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.90.

MARA Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MARA traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $11.98. 45,130,188 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 46,109,977. MARA has a 12 month low of $6.66 and a 12 month high of $23.45. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $11.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a PE ratio of -1.31 and a beta of 5.32.

MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The business services provider reported ($1.60) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($1.77). MARA had a negative net margin of 429.71% and a negative return on equity of 26.05%. The business had revenue of $174.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $209.44 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that MARA will post -1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MARA

In other MARA news, Director Douglas K. Mellinger sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total transaction of $112,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 231,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,705,888. The trade was a 2.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Frederick G. Thiel sold 27,505 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.25, for a total value of $391,946.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 4,562,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,008,628.25. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 109,386 shares of company stock worth $1,332,889. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of MARA by 9.8% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 11,073 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in MARA by 65.3% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 3,032 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association increased its position in MARA by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 20,634 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 1,569 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MARA by 11.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 643,311 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,398,000 after buying an additional 63,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MARA during the second quarter worth $183,000. 44.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about MARA

Here are the key news stories impacting MARA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HC Wainwright initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $20 price target, implying approximately 66% upside from the recent share price. The new bullish coverage provides a near-term catalyst and reflects confidence in MARA’s longer-term cryptocurrency-mining prospects. Benzinga analyst coverage report
• Neutral Sentiment: MARA has been receiving increased attention from Zacks users, which may boost trading activity and investor visibility but does not itself represent a change in the company’s fundamentals. MARA investor attention report
• Neutral Sentiment: A report showing zero reported short interest and a zero-day days-to-cover ratio offers no meaningful evidence of short-covering or elevated bearish positioning; the data may be incomplete or anomalous.
• Negative Sentiment: Cryptocurrency-mining stocks, including MARA, recently underperformed Bitcoin as investors adopted a risk-off stance. Miners typically have greater operating and financial leverage to Bitcoin prices, which can amplify declines in the underlying cryptocurrency. Crypto mining stocks risk-off report
• Negative Sentiment: The recent weakness was linked to falling Bitcoin prices, rising oil prices and broader macroeconomic concerns. These pressures can reduce mining economics while increasing energy costs, creating a challenging backdrop for MARA. Benzinga report on MARA’s market decline

MARA Company Profile

MARA Holdings, Inc, formerly known as Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc, is a digital asset technology company focused primarily on mining bitcoin. The company operates and supports computing infrastructure designed to secure the Bitcoin network by processing transactions and earning bitcoin rewards.

MARA develops and deploys large-scale data center and energy infrastructure for digital asset mining. Its activities include operating mining facilities, managing specialized application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) mining equipment, and pursuing energy and infrastructure solutions intended to support more efficient and scalable computing operations.