Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA)

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders purchased 366,305 call options on the company. This is an increase of 56% compared to the average daily volume of 235,130 call options.

Marathon Digital Trading Down 13.7%

NASDAQ MARA traded down $1.91 during trading on Friday, hitting $11.97. The stock had a trading volume of 28,267,460 shares, compared to its average volume of 45,800,754. The company has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a PE ratio of -2.08 and a beta of 5.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $11.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.40. Marathon Digital has a twelve month low of $6.66 and a twelve month high of $23.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Zabi Nowaid sold 42,090 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total transaction of $505,080.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 1,007,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,084,564. This trade represents a 4.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Frederick G. Thiel sold 27,505 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.18, for a total transaction of $252,495.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,788,954 shares in the company, valued at $43,962,597.72. The trade was a 0.57% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 180,855 shares of company stock valued at $2,033,654. 0.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marathon Digital

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Marathon Digital by 56.8% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,819 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 659 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Digital by 15.9% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,812 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Digital by 3.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 29,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. United Capital Management of KS Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Digital by 2.4% during the third quarter. United Capital Management of KS Inc. now owns 40,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $731,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CI Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Marathon Digital by 7.6% during the first quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 13,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 957 shares during the last quarter. 44.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MARA shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Marathon Digital from $8.50 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Marathon Digital in a research note on Friday, February 27th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Marathon Digital in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Marathon Digital from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Marathon Digital from $11.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.38.

Marathon Digital Company Profile

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.