Van ECK Associates Corp Lowers Stake in Applied Digital Corporation $APLD

Van ECK Associates Corp lessened its stake in shares of Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) by 21.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,422,868 shares of the company’s stock after selling 395,721 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Applied Digital were worth $53,073,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in APLD. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 84.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 18,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 8,692 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Applied Digital by 239.1% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 33,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 23,457 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Applied Digital by 113.3% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Applied Digital in the first quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Applied Digital by 61.0% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 61,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $621,000 after purchasing an additional 23,360 shares in the last quarter. 65.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on APLD. Northland Securities set a $82.00 price target on shares of Applied Digital and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Applied Digital from $36.50 to $37.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Compass Point reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Applied Digital in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Craig Hallum raised their target price on shares of Applied Digital from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Applied Digital from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Sunday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.15.

Applied Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APLD opened at $25.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 4.01 and a current ratio of 4.01. The company has a market cap of $7.39 billion, a PE ratio of -28.47 and a beta of 5.75. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.36. Applied Digital Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $13.16 and a fifty-two week high of $50.72.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported ($0.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $240.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.85 million. Applied Digital had a negative net margin of 37.78% and a negative return on equity of 16.42%. The business’s revenue was up 406.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.24) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Applied Digital Corporation will post -1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Digital news, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total transaction of $2,336,250.00. Following the sale, the director owned 133,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,154,724.70. The trade was a 35.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Key Applied Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Digital’s long-term AI data-center leases and expanding project pipeline could support substantial revenue growth over the next several years. One analysis projects significant upside if the company executes on those commitments. Prediction: Applied Digital Stock Will Jump 156% in 3 Years
• Positive Sentiment: Recent enthusiasm for Applied Digital’s AI infrastructure strategy and long-term contracts remains an important bullish factor, despite the stock’s recent weakness. Applied Digital Stock Is Down, But Its AI Data Center Business Is Powering Up
• Neutral Sentiment: Applied Digital has delivered very strong three-year returns, but its valuation remains expensive on sales, meaning the market already reflects substantial optimism about future AI data-center growth. Applied Digital Stock Looks Strong On Returns But Expensive On Sales
• Negative Sentiment: A major impairment charge at IREN, including a writedown tied to older Bitcoin-mining equipment, triggered a broader selloff in capital-intensive AI and data-center stocks. Investors appear concerned about transition costs, execution risk and potential asset write-downs across the sector—even though Applied Digital did not report comparable bad news. Applied Digital Sinks as Data Center Selloff Broadens
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded Applied Digital from “hold” to “strong sell,” adding pressure to investor sentiment. Zacks.com

Applied Digital Company Profile

Applied Digital (NASDAQ: APLD) is a technology company specializing in the development and operation of large-scale digital infrastructure and sustainable Bitcoin mining solutions. Through its integrated platform, the company designs, builds and manages turnkey data center facilities while also providing comprehensive hosting services for cloud, colocation and enterprise computing needs. Applied Digital’s modular approach to facility design enables rapid deployment of capacity and streamlined integration of power, cooling and network connectivity.

In addition to its data center business, Applied Digital operates a network of Bitcoin mining sites that leverage vertically integrated capabilities, including hardware procurement, mining farm engineering, energy management and real-time performance monitoring.