Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after Lucid Cap Mkts upgraded the stock to a strong-buy rating. The company traded as high as $49.35 and last traded at $48.98, with a volume of 25650098 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $45.14.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on APLD. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective (up from $53.00) on shares of Applied Digital in a research report on Wednesday. Northland Securities set a $56.00 target price on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Lake Street Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price (up from $55.00) on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Applied Digital from $51.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $59.11.

Insider Transactions at Applied Digital

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

Institutional Trading of Applied Digital

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Applied Digital by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,168,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $592,601,000 after buying an additional 6,445,908 shares during the last quarter. Situational Awareness LP grew its stake in Applied Digital by 18.9% during the first quarter. Situational Awareness LP now owns 13,478,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,978,000 after buying an additional 2,139,378 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Applied Digital by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,285,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,151,000 after buying an additional 304,228 shares during the last quarter. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Applied Digital during the fourth quarter worth about $138,380,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Applied Digital by 24,356.8% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,219,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,561,000 after buying an additional 5,198,223 shares during the last quarter. 65.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Digital Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -63.89 and a beta of 5.69. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.42.

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