Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Trading 2.2% Higher – Still a Buy?

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) traded up 2.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $47.78 and last traded at $46.59. 14,482,586 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 25,508,365 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.57.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on APLD. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Compass Point reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Applied Digital from $66.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $82.00 price target on Applied Digital and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.56.

Applied Digital Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $13.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -62.96 and a beta of 5.69. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.47.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $108.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.47 million. Applied Digital had a negative return on equity of 15.91% and a negative net margin of 52.84%.Applied Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 139.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.08) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Digital

In other Applied Digital news, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 208,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,207,795.02. The trade was a 5.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas S. Miller sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction of $349,800.00. Following the sale, the director owned 184,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,466,367.82. This trade represents a 5.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,182,175 in the last quarter. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Digital

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Applied Digital by 36.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,168,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $592,601,000 after buying an additional 6,445,908 shares during the period. Situational Awareness LP lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 18.9% during the first quarter. Situational Awareness LP now owns 13,478,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,978,000 after buying an additional 2,139,378 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Digital by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,285,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,151,000 after acquiring an additional 304,228 shares during the period. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $138,380,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Applied Digital by 24,356.8% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,219,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,561,000 after acquiring an additional 5,198,223 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.67% of the company’s stock.

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.