Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) Trading Down 2.5% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Marathon Digital shares fell 2.5% to $12.70 on Thursday (intraday low $12.23) with ~39.8M shares traded, a bit below the 46.9M average; market cap is about $4.84B and the 50/200-day SMAs are $9.60 and $10.98 respectively.
• The company posted a large quarterly earnings miss (EPS -$4.52 vs. -$0.23 est) and revenue of $202.3M vs. $250.7M est, leaving Marathon with a deeply negative net margin (-144.58%); analysts’ consensus rating is "Hold" with a consensus price target of $18.22.
• Senior insiders (CEO and CFO) sold shares under pre-arranged Rule 10b5‑1 plans in April—172,605 shares sold in the last three months (~$1.75M)—while institutional investors own roughly 44.5% of the stock.

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 2.5% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $12.23 and last traded at $12.70. 39,753,357 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 46,933,625 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.03.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Marathon Digital in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Piper Sandler cut 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. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Marathon Digital from $11.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Digital from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Marathon Digital from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Seven equities research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marathon Digital currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $18.22.

Marathon Digital Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.21 and a beta of 5.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $9.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.98.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Salman Hassan Khan sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.68, for a total value of $186,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 441,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,151,650.88. This trade represents a 3.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.68, for a total transaction of $321,258.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 4,725,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,190,557.92. The trade was a 0.58% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 172,605 shares of company stock worth $1,745,843. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Digital by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,706,277 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $419,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,394,559 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Digital by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,455,176 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $210,977,000 after purchasing an additional 191,380 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Digital by 104.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 12,098,686 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $220,922,000 after purchasing an additional 6,172,110 shares in the last quarter. Marex Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Digital by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Marex Group plc now owns 10,137,713 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $91,037,000 after purchasing an additional 259,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Digital by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,957,766 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $89,434,000 after purchasing an additional 251,674 shares in the last quarter. 44.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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