Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) Stock Price Up 11.8% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Shares jumped 11.8% intraday to a high of $12.27 on Thursday, trading about 81.5M shares—roughly a 73% increase versus average daily volume.
• Marathon delivered a heavy earnings miss (EPS ($4.52) vs. consensus ($0.23)) and revenue shortfall, leaving the company with negative margins and a negative return on equity.
• Analysts are mixed (consensus rating: Hold, target $19) amid several downgrades and price cuts, while insiders have been selling recently even as institutional investors (notably Vanguard) own a large portion of shares.

Shares of Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA - Get Free Report) were up 11.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $12.27 and last traded at $11.99. Approximately 81,490,524 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 73% from the average daily volume of 47,001,746 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.72.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MARA shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Marathon Digital from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Marathon Digital in a report on Monday, February 9th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $8.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Marathon Digital in a report on Friday, February 27th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Digital from $26.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of Marathon Digital from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Marathon Digital has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $19.00.

Marathon Digital Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of -3.03 and a beta of 5.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $9.33 and a 200 day moving average of $11.24.

Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $202.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $250.74 million. Marathon Digital had a negative net margin of 144.58% and a negative return on equity of 19.01%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marathon Digital

In other Marathon Digital news, CFO Salman Hassan Khan sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.68, for a total transaction of $186,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 441,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,151,650.88. The trade was a 3.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Frederick G. Thiel sold 27,505 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.18, for a total transaction of $252,495.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 4,788,954 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,962,597.72. This represents a 0.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 172,605 shares of company stock worth $1,745,843. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Digital

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 valued at $827,392,000 after buying an additional 4,049,979 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new stake in Marathon Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,438,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in Marathon Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,643,000. Farallon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Marathon Digital by 338.3% during the 3rd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 3,660,000 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $66,832,000 after buying an additional 2,825,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP raised its stake in Marathon Digital by 446.6% during the 3rd quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 319,549 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,835,000 after buying an additional 261,085 shares during the last quarter. 44.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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