Investors Buy Large Volume of Marathon Digital Call Options (NASDAQ:MARA)

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders purchased 466,397 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 59% compared to the average daily volume of 293,336 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MARA. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Marathon Digital from $30.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Compass Point reissued a “sell” rating and set a $9.50 price objective (down from $25.00) on shares of Marathon Digital in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Digital from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Marathon Digital from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Marathon Digital in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marathon Digital presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.94.

Insider Transactions at Marathon Digital

In related news, Director Douglas K. Mellinger sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total transaction of $48,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 176,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,829,744. This trade represents a 1.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Frederick G. Thiel sold 27,505 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.52, for a total transaction of $536,897.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,946,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,035,758.08. The trade was a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 262,090 shares of company stock valued at $4,270,591 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Marathon Digital in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Marathon Digital by 358.3% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,824 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,426 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Marathon Digital by 59.9% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,824 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Marathon Digital during the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Marathon Digital by 211.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 2,375 shares in the last quarter. 44.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Marathon Digital Trading Down 2.3%

NASDAQ MARA opened at $19.51 on Friday. Marathon Digital has a one year low of $9.81 and a one year high of $30.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.87 billion, a PE ratio of -13.46 and a beta of 6.53.

Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The business services provider reported ($0.40) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by ($0.06). Marathon Digital had a negative net margin of 46.68% and a positive return on equity of 6.33%. The business had revenue of $213.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $234.19 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 29.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Marathon Digital will post -1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Marathon Digital Company Profile

MARA Holdings, Inc operates as a digital asset technology company that mines digital assets with a focus on the bitcoin ecosystem in United States. The company was formerly known as Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc and changed its name to MARA Holdings, Inc in August 2024. MARA Holdings, Inc was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.