Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) Shares Up 8.3% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Shares rose 8.3% on Thursday to about $8.71, trading roughly 50 million shares—slightly above average session volume.
• Marathon reported a major quarterly miss with EPS of -$4.52 versus an expected -$0.23 and revenue of $202.3 million below estimates, reflecting steep negative margins and weaker performance year-over-year.
• Analysts’ consensus is a “Hold” with an average price target of $20 amid recent price-target cuts and mixed ratings, while insiders sold ~114,515 shares last quarter and institutions own about 44.5% of the stock.

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA - Get Free Report) shares traded up 8.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $8.77 and last traded at $8.71. 50,003,233 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 5% from the average session volume of 47,480,227 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.04.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Digital from $21.00 to $11.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered Marathon Digital from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Digital from $26.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Marathon Digital in a research report on Monday, February 9th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $8.00 target price for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Marathon Digital in a report on Friday, February 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.00.

Marathon Digital Trading Up 8.3%

The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.20 and a beta of 5.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $8.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.34.

Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The business services provider reported ($4.52) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($4.29). Marathon Digital had a negative return on equity of 19.01% and a negative net margin of 144.58%.The business had revenue of $202.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. Marathon Digital's revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. will post -1.04 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Digital news, CFO Salman Hassan Khan sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.18, for a total transaction of $146,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 343,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,150,254.70. The trade was a 4.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Frederick G. Thiel sold 27,505 shares of Marathon Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.18, for a total transaction of $252,495.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,788,954 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,962,597.72. This trade represents a 0.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 114,515 shares of company stock valued at $1,029,678 in the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Digital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MARA. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Marathon Digital by 104.1% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 12,098,686 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $220,922,000 after buying an additional 6,172,110 shares during the last quarter. Marex Group plc bought a new stake in Marathon Digital in the second quarter worth approximately $84,301,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Digital in the third quarter worth approximately $93,066,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Marathon Digital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,492,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marathon Digital by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,311,718 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $827,392,000 after purchasing an additional 4,049,979 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 44.53% of the company's stock.

Marathon Digital Company Profile

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.

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