Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Trading Up 1.4% on Analyst Upgrade

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD)’s share price was up 1.4% on Thursday after Lucid Cap Mkts upgraded the stock to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $50.73 and last traded at $49.65. Approximately 19,081,606 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 27% from the average daily volume of 26,203,320 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.98.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Northland Securities set a $56.00 target price on Applied Digital in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Compass Point reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Applied Digital from $51.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price (up from $53.00) on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $59.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Douglas S. Miller sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $349,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 184,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,466,367.82. This represents a 5.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.59, for a total value of $432,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 208,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,207,795.02. This trade represents a 5.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,182,175 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Digital

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Digital by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Applied Digital by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $523,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in Applied Digital by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 9,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Applied Digital by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 36,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in Applied Digital by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 9,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. 65.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Digital Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.38. The company has a market capitalization of $13.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -63.89 and a beta of 5.69.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The company reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.23). Applied Digital had a negative net margin of 52.84% and a negative return on equity of 15.91%. The firm had revenue of $108.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.47 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.08) earnings per share. Applied Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 139.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.68 EPS for the current year.

Applied Digital Company Profile

Applied Digital (NASDAQ: APLD) is a technology company specializing in the development and operation of large-scale digital infrastructure and sustainable Bitcoin mining solutions. Through its integrated platform, the company designs, builds and manages turnkey data center facilities while also providing comprehensive hosting services for cloud, colocation and enterprise computing needs. Applied Digital’s modular approach to facility design enables rapid deployment of capacity and streamlined integration of power, cooling and network connectivity.

In addition to its data center business, Applied Digital operates a network of Bitcoin mining sites that leverage vertically integrated capabilities, including hardware procurement, mining farm engineering, energy management and real-time performance monitoring.