Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $46.64 and last traded at $44.59, with a volume of 27316729 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.25.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on APLD. Texas Capital upgraded Applied Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen cut Applied Digital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Northland Securities set a $56.00 target price on Applied Digital in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Zacks Research upgraded Applied Digital from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Friday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.33.

Applied Digital Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.26. The company has a market capitalization of $12.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -60.26 and a beta of 5.69. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The company reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $108.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.47 million. Applied Digital had a negative net margin of 52.84% and a negative return on equity of 15.91%. The business’s revenue was up 139.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.08) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Applied Digital

In related news, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.59, for a total transaction of $432,375.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 208,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,207,795.02. This represents a 5.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Douglas S. Miller sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $349,800.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 184,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,466,367.82. This represents a 5.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,182,175. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Digital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Applied Digital by 84.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 18,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 8,692 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Applied Digital by 239.1% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 33,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,000 after buying an additional 23,457 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Applied Digital by 113.3% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 3,542 shares during the period. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Applied Digital in the first quarter worth $71,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Applied Digital by 61.0% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 61,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $621,000 after buying an additional 23,360 shares during the period. 65.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Digital Company Profile

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.