Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Shares Gap Up - Here's Why

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $10.91, but opened at $11.47. Applied Digital shares last traded at $11.61, with a volume of 8,162,856 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on APLD. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Applied Digital from $14.00 to $7.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Applied Digital from $7.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Applied Digital to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $12.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.73.

Applied Digital Price Performance

The stock's fifty day moving average price is $9.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a PE ratio of -8.71 and a beta of 6.04.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rachel H. Lee sold 24,212 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.00, for a total value of $169,484.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 83,613 shares in the company, valued at $585,291. This trade represents a 22.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 11.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Digital

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Digital during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 113.3% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 3,542 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 116.5% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,506 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 5,116 shares in the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Digital during the first quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Digital during the second quarter worth about $66,000. 65.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Applied Digital

Applied Digital Corporation designs, develops, and operates datacenters in North America. Its datacenters provide digital infrastructure solutions to the high-performance computing industry. The company also provides artificial intelligence cloud services, high performance computing datacenter hosting, and crypto datacenter hosting services.