Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) Trading Down 8.7% – Time to Sell?

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA) dropped 8.7% on Friday . The company traded as low as $7.89 and last traded at $8.01. Approximately 36,267,209 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 24% from the average daily volume of 47,413,066 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.77.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MARA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Marathon Digital from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Marathon Digital in a research report on Monday, February 9th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $8.00 price target on the stock. Compass Point raised shares of Marathon Digital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on shares of Marathon Digital from $21.00 to $11.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Marathon Digital from $20.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Marathon Digital has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.00.

Marathon Digital Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $9.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.24. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.02 and a beta of 5.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 2.09.

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

Insider Activity 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, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.80, for a total value of $297,054.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,517,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,989,712.80. The trade was a 0.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Salman Hassan Khan sold 34,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.48, for a total transaction of $398,723.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 248,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,853,537.68. This represents a 12.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 133,247 shares of company stock worth $1,325,255 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marathon Digital

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MARA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marathon Digital by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,706,277 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $419,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,394,559 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Marathon Digital by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,455,176 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $210,977,000 after purchasing an additional 191,380 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Marathon Digital by 104.1% during 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 period. Marex Group plc lifted its stake in Marathon Digital by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Marex Group plc now owns 10,137,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $91,037,000 after buying an additional 259,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marathon Digital by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,957,766 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $89,434,000 after buying an additional 251,674 shares during the period. 44.53% of the stock is 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.