Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Stock Price Up 6.6% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) rose 6.6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $42.07 and last traded at $41.47. Approximately 16,877,587 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average daily volume of 25,720,973 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.92.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APLD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Applied Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target (up from $53.00) on shares of Applied Digital in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Applied Digital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Craig Hallum upped their price target on shares of Applied Digital from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.67.

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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -57.70 and a beta of 5.69.

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 company had revenue of $108.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.47 million. Applied Digital had a negative net margin of 52.84% and a negative return on equity of 15.91%. Applied Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 139.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.08) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Douglas S. Miller sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $349,800.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 184,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,466,367.82. This represents a 5.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.59, for a total transaction of $432,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 208,378 shares in the company, valued at $7,207,795.02. The trade was a 5.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,182,175 over the last three months. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Digital

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $523,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 9,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 1.0% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 36,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $841,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 9,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. 65.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Applied Digital

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.