MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) Shares Up 1.2% – Time to Buy?

Shares of MARA Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA) were up 1.2% on Thursday. The company traded as high as $8.36 and last traded at $8.33. Approximately 41,321,469 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 9% from the average daily volume of 45,601,191 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.23.

Key MARA News

Here are the key news stories impacting MARA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Relative market strength: MARA closed the latest reported session at $8.34, up 1.28% and outperforming the broader stock-market upswing. The article does not identify a new operational catalyst. Marathon Digital Holdings Beats Stock Market Upswing
• Positive Sentiment: Elevated call activity: Investors purchased 310,828 MARA call options, 50% above typical volume. This may reflect bullish positioning or expectations for a rebound, although options activity is speculative and can also signal greater near-term volatility.
• Neutral Sentiment: No fresh fundamental catalyst: None of the supplied articles reports a new production update, bitcoin-related development, financing announcement, or earnings revision for Marathon Digital. The company’s prior reported results—an earnings and revenue miss—remain an unfavorable backdrop, but they are not new developments in this news batch.
• Neutral Sentiment: Irrelevant similarly named coverage: Articles about Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Aday Mara and actress Mara Wilson do not concern Marathon Digital Holdings and should not affect MARA’s valuation.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MARA has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $11.00 price target (down from $13.00) on shares of MARA in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on MARA from $16.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded MARA from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Citizens Jmp began coverage on MARA in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright started coverage on MARA in a research note on Friday, September 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MARA has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.10.

MARA Stock Down 9.6%

The company has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.82 and a beta of 5.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $10.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.76.

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 firm had revenue of $174.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $209.44 million. MARA had a negative net margin of 429.71% and a negative return on equity of 26.05%. MARA’s quarterly revenue was down 26.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that MARA Holdings will post -1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MARA

In other news, CFO Salman Khan sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.21, for a total transaction of $147,360.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 377,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,472,777.86. This trade represents a 4.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Frederick G. Thiel sold 27,505 shares of MARA stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.22, for a total value of $308,606.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 4,217,586 shares in the company, valued at $47,321,314.92. This trade represents a 0.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 106,891 shares of company stock valued at $1,124,731. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MARA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of MARA by 300.0% in the third 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. Everhart Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MARA during the third quarter worth $152,000. Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its holdings in shares of MARA by 19.4% during the third quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 159,737 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,810,000 after acquiring an additional 25,962 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of MARA by 58.2% during the third quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 4,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,475 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MARA during the second quarter worth $161,000. 44.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MARA

MARA Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: MARA), formerly known as Marathon Digital Holdings, is a digital asset technology company focused primarily on mining bitcoin. The company operates specialized data centers containing application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) computers that process transactions and secure the Bitcoin network in exchange for bitcoin rewards.

In addition to bitcoin mining, MARA develops and operates digital asset computing infrastructure. Its activities include managing energy and data-center resources, deploying mining hardware, and pursuing technologies designed to improve the efficiency and scalability of digital asset mining.