MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) Stock Falls 5.6% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• MARA shares fell 5.6% to $10.36 in midday trading, with about 36.6 million shares changing hands. The stock has a high beta of 5.33 and trades below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: eight analysts rate MARA a Buy, one a Hold and three a Sell, resulting in a consensus “Hold” rating and a $19.20 price target.
• The company reported a weak quarter, including a $1.60 per-share loss versus expectations for $0.17 in earnings and revenue of $174.9 million, down 26.7% year over year. Insiders sold 106,891 shares worth approximately $1.12 million over the past 90 days.

MARA Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA - Get Free Report) shares traded down 5.6% on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $10.16 and last traded at $10.36. Approximately 36,639,315 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 20% from the average session volume of 45,867,195 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.97.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MARA. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $11.00 price objective (up from $6.00) on shares of MARA in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on shares of MARA in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set a "market outperform" rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on MARA from $16.00 to $13.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on MARA from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright initiated coverage on MARA in a research report on Friday, September 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $20.00 price objective on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $19.20.

MARA Trading Down 5.6%

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 company has a market cap of $4.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.13 and a beta of 5.33. The business's fifty day moving average price is $11.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.76.

MARA (NASDAQ:MARA - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 the consensus estimate of $209.44 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 26.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that MARA Holdings will post -1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MARA

In other MARA news, CFO Salman Khan sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total transaction of $147,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 377,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,472,777.86. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, General Counsel Zabi Nowaid sold 8,376 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total transaction of $100,512.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 898,780 shares in the company, valued at $10,785,360. This trade represents a 0.92% decrease in their position. 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 90 days, insiders sold 106,891 shares of company stock valued at $1,124,731. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of MARA

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MARA. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MARA in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,492,000. Delta Global Management LP bought a new stake in MARA in the first quarter worth about $5,064,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in MARA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,220,000. Compass Rose Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of MARA during the 1st quarter worth $4,243,000. Finally, Compass Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in MARA during the second quarter valued at about $6,000,000. 44.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MARA

MARA Holdings, Inc NASDAQ: MARA, formerly known as Marathon Digital Holdings, is a digital asset technology company focused primarily on mining bitcoin. The company operates specialized data centers containing application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) computers that process transactions and secure the Bitcoin network in exchange for bitcoin rewards.

In addition to bitcoin mining, MARA develops and operates digital asset computing infrastructure. Its activities include managing energy and data-center resources, deploying mining hardware, and pursuing technologies designed to improve the efficiency and scalability of digital asset mining.

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