Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA)

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors bought 250,143 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 14% compared to the average daily volume of 219,762 call options.

Marathon Digital News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Marathon Digital this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed its Buy rating and set a $15 price target, implying substantial upside from recent trading levels. Benzinga analyst ratings report
• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald maintained an Overweight rating and a $12 price target. Although the target was reduced from $14, it remains above the current market price and suggests analysts see potential recovery. Benzinga analyst ratings report
• Positive Sentiment: Management is expanding beyond Bitcoin mining by increasing power capacity to approximately 4.8 gigawatts and developing AI data-center infrastructure. The strategy could diversify revenue and improve long-term asset utilization if demand for AI computing remains strong. MARA Q2 highlights

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MARA shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Marathon Digital from $7.00 to $5.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on Marathon Digital in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Marathon Digital from $16.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Marathon Digital from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Marathon Digital from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Douglas K. Mellinger sold 7,000 shares of Marathon Digital stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total value of $112,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 231,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,705,888. The trade was a 2.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Salman Hassan Khan sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.25, for a total transaction of $228,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 409,066 shares in the company, valued at $5,829,190.50. This represents a 3.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 109,260 shares of company stock worth $1,452,756 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marathon Digital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MARA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Digital by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,706,277 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $419,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,394,559 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Marathon Digital by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,455,176 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $210,977,000 after purchasing an additional 191,380 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Marathon Digital by 104.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 12,098,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $220,922,000 after purchasing an additional 6,172,110 shares during the period. Marex Group plc raised its stake in shares of Marathon Digital by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Marex Group plc now owns 10,137,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $91,037,000 after buying an additional 259,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Digital by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,957,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $89,434,000 after buying an additional 251,674 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 44.53% of the company’s stock.

Marathon Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MARA traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $10.12. The stock had a trading volume of 35,443,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 45,636,523. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.77 and a beta of 5.40. Marathon Digital has a 52 week low of $6.66 and a 52 week high of $23.45.

About Marathon Digital

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc is a digital asset technology company specializing in the mining and acquisition of bitcoin. Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, the firm employs high-performance application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) miners and proprietary software to secure the Bitcoin network and expand its crypto-mining footprint. Marathon Digital focuses on operational efficiency and scalability, while maintaining rigorous standards for regulatory compliance and corporate governance.

The company operates multiple large-scale mining facilities throughout North America, including sites in Texas, Montana and New York.