Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) Shares Down 1.5% – Time to Sell?

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA)’s stock price fell 1.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $8.00 and last traded at $8.04. 30,841,223 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 47,434,754 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.16.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MARA shares. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Marathon Digital in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Marathon Digital in a report on Monday, February 9th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $8.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Marathon Digital from $21.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Marathon Digital from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Marathon Digital from $26.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.00.

Marathon Digital Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.20 and a beta of 5.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.31.

Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The business services provider reported ($4.52) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($4.29). The firm had revenue of $202.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $250.74 million. Marathon Digital had a negative net margin of 144.58% and a negative return on equity of 19.01%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. will post -1.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Digital

In other news, CEO Frederick G. Thiel sold 27,505 shares of Marathon Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.18, for a total value of $252,495.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,788,954 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,962,597.72. This trade represents a 0.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Salman Hassan Khan sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.18, for a total value of $146,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 343,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,150,254.70. This represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 114,515 shares of company stock worth $1,029,678. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MARA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marathon Digital by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,706,277 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $419,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,394,559 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Marathon Digital by 1.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,455,176 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $210,977,000 after buying an additional 191,380 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its position in Marathon Digital by 104.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 12,098,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $220,922,000 after buying an additional 6,172,110 shares during the last quarter. Marex Group plc grew its stake in shares of Marathon Digital by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Marex Group plc now owns 10,137,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $91,037,000 after acquiring an additional 259,210 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Marathon Digital by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,957,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $89,434,000 after buying an additional 251,674 shares during the last quarter. 44.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.