Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Trading 8.5% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD)’s stock price rose 8.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Lucid Cap Mkts upgraded the stock to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $49.35 and last traded at $48.98. Approximately 25,505,609 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 3% from the average daily volume of 26,271,682 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.14.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Lake Street Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective (up from $55.00) on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Applied Digital from $51.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Applied Digital from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $59.11.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Douglas S. Miller sold 10,000 shares of Applied Digital stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $349,800.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 184,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,466,367.82. The trade was a 5.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $432,375.00. Following the sale, the director owned 208,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,207,795.02. This represents a 5.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,182,175. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in APLD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 6,445,908 shares during the last quarter. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Digital during the fourth quarter valued at about $138,380,000. Situational Awareness LP raised its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Situational Awareness LP now owns 11,339,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,034,000 after acquiring an additional 5,274,905 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 24,356.8% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,219,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,198,223 shares during the period. Finally, Marex Group plc boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 38,484.6% during the fourth quarter. Marex Group plc now owns 3,904,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,745,000 after purchasing an additional 3,894,639 shares during the period. 65.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Digital Stock Down 4.8%

The company has a market capitalization of $13.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -64.11 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $33.99 and a 200-day moving average of $31.31.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The company reported ($0.36) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $108.55 million for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 139.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.61 EPS for the current year.

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.