Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Trading Up 2.9% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Applied Digital's shares increased by 2.9% during trading, reaching a last traded price of $20.48, despite a 15% decline in average daily trading volume.
• Several analysts have upgraded their ratings on Applied Digital, with HC Wainwright raising the target price from $15.00 to $20.00 and a consensus rating of "Buy" for the stock.
• Insider selling was noted, with CFO Mohammad Saidal Lavanw Mohmand and Director Richard N. Nottenburg each selling shares, resulting in a total insider sale of 506,250 shares worth $7.7 million over the last three months.

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 2.9% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $20.80 and last traded at $20.48. Approximately 31,158,144 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 15% from the average daily volume of 36,622,430 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.91.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on APLD shares. Compass Point started coverage on shares of Applied Digital in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of Applied Digital from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 25th. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Applied Digital from $12.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, B. Riley increased their target price on shares of Applied Digital from $8.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and twelve have issued a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $15.64.

Applied Digital Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The company's 50-day moving average price is $14.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.91. The company has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.79 and a beta of 6.65.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.12). Applied Digital had a negative net margin of 107.22% and a negative return on equity of 50.03%. The company had revenue of $38.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.86 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.14) earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 41.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Digital

In other Applied Digital news, CFO Mohammad Saidal Lavanw Mohmand sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.26, for a total transaction of $1,144,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 201,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,079,468. This represents a 27.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Wes Cummins sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.26, for a total transaction of $6,104,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,659,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,582,123.54. This trade represents a 13.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 506,250 shares of company stock valued at $7,713,675. 11.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Digital

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Digital in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in Applied Digital in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Digital in the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Applied Digital in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in Applied Digital in the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. 65.67% of the stock is 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.