Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) Trading Up 16.4% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA) traded up 16.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $11.78 and last traded at $11.6950. 8,896,017 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 45,901,191 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.05.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MARA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on shares of Marathon Digital from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Marathon Digital from $11.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citizens Jmp initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Digital in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set a “market outperform” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Marathon Digital from $7.00 to $5.50 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Eight 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.50.

Marathon Digital Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.08 and a beta of 5.36. 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’s 50-day moving average is $13.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.01.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Frederick G. Thiel sold 27,505 shares of Marathon Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.25, for a total transaction of $391,946.25. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total value of $192,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 425,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,100,792. This trade represents a 3.63% decrease in their position. 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 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MARA. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Marathon Digital in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,201,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Digital by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 427,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,841,000 after buying an additional 95,970 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 1,394,559 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of Marathon Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $831,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marathon Digital by 56.2% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 213,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,913,000 after acquiring an additional 76,670 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 44.53% of the company’s stock.

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.