Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) Shares Down 5.3% After Analyst Downgrade

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA) dropped 5.3% during trading on Monday after Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on the stock from $14.00 to $12.00. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Marathon Digital traded as low as $9.40 and last traded at $9.56. Approximately 42,060,132 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 8% from the average daily volume of 45,762,207 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.09.

MARA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Marathon Digital from $7.00 to $5.50 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Marathon Digital from $16.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Citizens Jmp started coverage on shares of Marathon Digital in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set a “market outperform” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Marathon Digital from $11.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Digital in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Frederick G. Thiel sold 27,505 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.25, for a total value of $391,946.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,562,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,008,628.25. This trade represents a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Salman Hassan Khan sold 16,000 shares of Marathon Digital stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.25, for a total value of $228,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 409,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,829,190.50. This represents a 3.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 109,260 shares of company stock valued at $1,452,756 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Digital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ascentis Independent Advisors acquired a new stake in Marathon Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marathon Digital by 4,345.1% during the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 4,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 3,954 shares in the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in shares of Marathon Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Marathon Digital by 344.8% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,022 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 3,893 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Digital by 128.0% during the 2nd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 3,651 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050 shares in the last quarter. 44.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Marathon Digital Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.04 and a beta of 5.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average of $12.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.02.

Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The business services provider reported ($1.60) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($1.77). The firm had revenue of $174.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $209.44 million. Marathon Digital had a negative return on equity of 26.05% and a negative net margin of 429.71%.Marathon Digital’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. will post -2.28 EPS for the current year.

About Marathon Digital

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.