MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) Stock Jumps 8% – Time to Buy?

MARA Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA) traded up 8% during trading on Friday. The company traded as high as $6.42 and last traded at $6.35. 34,555,312 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 44,936,359 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.88.

Key Headlines Impacting MARA

Here are the key news stories impacting MARA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: FERC approved MARA’s roughly $1.5 billion acquisition of Long Ridge Energy & Power, clearing a key regulatory condition. The site includes a 505-megawatt power plant and acreage intended to support the company’s AI and high-performance-computing infrastructure plans; closing is expected in the coming weeks. FERC authorizes MARA’s acquisition of Long Ridge
• Neutral Sentiment: MARA transferred 1,650 BTC, valued in reports at about $132.8 million, to institutional platforms including Galaxy Digital and Copper. The move may relate to its evolving treasury and funding strategy, but the reports do not establish that the bitcoin was sold. MARA transfers 1,650 BTC
• Negative Sentiment: A recent report attributed selling pressure to insider sales, which can weigh on sentiment. MARA shares down on insider selling
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the FERC approval, MARA and other Bitcoin miners were hit by a selloff in AI-data-center-related stocks. Investors may be weighing the execution and financing risks of MARA’s costly shift toward power and data-center infrastructure. AI data center selloff hits Bitcoin miners

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MARA shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of MARA from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $10.00 target price on shares of MARA and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of MARA from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $13.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of MARA in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective (down from $13.00) on shares of MARA in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MARA has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.78.

MARA Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $9.99 and a 200-day moving average of $10.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.69 and a beta of 5.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The business services provider reported ($1.60) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($1.77). The business had revenue of $174.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $209.44 million. MARA had a negative return on equity of 26.05% and a negative net margin of 429.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 26.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that MARA Holdings will post -1.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at MARA

In related news, General Counsel Zabi Nowaid sold 8,376 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total transaction of $100,512.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 898,780 shares in the company, valued at $10,785,360. This represents a 0.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Frederick Thiel sold 27,505 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.79, for a total transaction of $186,758.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,149,585 shares in the company, valued at $28,175,682.15. This represents a 0.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 134,396 shares of company stock valued at $1,311,490 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MARA

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ascentis Independent Advisors bought a new stake in shares of MARA during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in MARA by 1,154.9% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,422 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in MARA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in MARA by 58.2% during the 3rd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 4,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 1,475 shares during the period. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in MARA by 300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 4,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 44.53% of the company’s stock.

MARA Company Profile

MARA Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: MARA), formerly known as Marathon Digital Holdings, is a digital asset mining and energy infrastructure company. Its primary business is securing the Bitcoin network by operating specialized computing equipment that validates transactions and earns Bitcoin rewards.

The company develops and operates data centers and digital asset computing infrastructure, while also pursuing strategies to access low-cost and surplus energy. MARA has expanded its operations through a combination of owned facilities, hosting arrangements and acquisitions, with activities spanning North America and other international markets.

The company was founded in 2010 as Marathon Patent Group and later shifted its focus toward cryptocurrency mining before adopting the Marathon Digital name.