MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) Stock Falls 2.4% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• MARA shares fell 2.4% to $7.17 during mid-day trading, with trading volume down 25% from the average session.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: seven analysts rate the stock a Buy and three rate it a Sell, producing a consensus Hold rating and a $17.78 average price target.
• The company reported weak quarterly results, including a $1.60 per-share loss, revenue below expectations, and a 26.7% year-over-year revenue decline. Insiders have also sold 106,891 shares worth about $1.1 million over the past 90 days.

MARA Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA - Get Free Report) dropped 2.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $7.02 and last traded at $7.17. 33,902,852 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 25% from the average session volume of 45,119,633 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.35.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MARA shares. HC Wainwright assumed coverage on shares of MARA in a research report on Friday, September 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $11.00 price objective (down from $13.00) on shares of MARA in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of MARA from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of MARA from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of MARA in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $17.78.

MARA Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.77 billion, a PE ratio of -0.78 and a beta of 5.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business's fifty day moving average is $10.51 and its 200-day moving average is $10.82.

MARA (NASDAQ:MARA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The business services provider reported ($1.60) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($1.77). MARA had a negative return on equity of 26.05% and a negative net margin of 429.71%. The company had revenue of $174.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $209.44 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 26.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that MARA Holdings will post -1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MARA news, CFO Salman Khan sold 16,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total transaction of $147,360.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 377,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,472,777.86. This represents a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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, CEO Frederick Thiel sold 27,505 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.22, for a total transaction of $308,606.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 4,217,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,321,314.92. This represents a 0.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 106,891 shares of company stock valued at $1,124,731. 0.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of MARA

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MARA. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in MARA by 315.5% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 166,571 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 126,482 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in MARA during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,545,000. Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MARA during the second quarter valued at about $6,000,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of MARA during the first quarter valued at about $2,864,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of MARA during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,220,000. 44.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About MARA

MARA Holdings, Inc NASDAQ: MARA, formerly known as Marathon Digital Holdings, is a digital asset mining and energy infrastructure company. Its primary business is securing the Bitcoin network by operating specialized computing equipment that validates transactions and earns Bitcoin rewards.

The company develops and operates data centers and digital asset computing infrastructure, while also pursuing strategies to access low-cost and surplus energy. MARA has expanded its operations through a combination of owned facilities, hosting arrangements and acquisitions, with activities spanning North America and other international markets.

The company was founded in 2010 as Marathon Patent Group and later shifted its focus toward cryptocurrency mining before adopting the Marathon Digital name.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.