Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) Stock Price Down 1.4% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Big quarterly miss: Marathon reported (‑$4.52) EPS vs. consensus (‑$0.23) and revenue of $202.3M vs. $250.7M, leaving negative margins and analysts projecting roughly (‑$0.79) EPS for the year.
• Analyst reaction: Ratings are mixed with a consensus "Hold" and an average price target of $19, while recent cuts include Piper Sandler to $16 and Morgan Stanley initiating coverage at "Underweight" with an $8 target.
• Stock action and insider selling: Shares fell 1.4% to $11.64 on heavy trading (~46.5M shares) and insiders have sold 172,605 shares in the past 90 days, including recent Rule 10b5‑1 sales by the general counsel and CFO.

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 1.4% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $11.28 and last traded at $11.64. Approximately 46,517,808 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 1% from the average daily volume of 47,153,180 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.80.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MARA shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Marathon Digital from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Marathon Digital in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective 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. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Digital from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Marathon Digital in a research report on Monday, February 9th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $8.00 price objective for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $19.00.

Marathon Digital Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a PE ratio of -2.94 and a beta of 5.29. The stock's 50-day moving average is $9.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.54.

Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The business services provider reported ($4.52) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($4.29). The company had revenue of $202.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $250.74 million. Marathon Digital had a negative return on equity of 19.01% and a negative net margin of 144.58%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marathon Digital news, General Counsel Zabi Nowaid sold 42,090 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total transaction of $505,080.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 1,007,047 shares in the company, valued at $12,084,564. This represents a 4.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.68, for a total transaction of $186,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 441,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,151,650.88. This trade represents a 3.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 172,605 shares of company stock worth $1,745,843 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in Marathon Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $88,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Digital in the 1st quarter valued at $1,368,000. Sara Bay Financial raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Digital by 131.2% in the 1st quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 62,730 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 35,600 shares in the last quarter. Evexia Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marathon Digital by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Evexia Wealth LLC now owns 12,937 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Marathon Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $5,220,000. 44.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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