MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) Trading Up 0.8% – Still a Buy?

MARA Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA) shares shot up 0.8% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $18.43 and last traded at $18.29. 12,630,377 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 33,828,637 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.15.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MARA shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of MARA in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on MARA in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of MARA from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $12.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of MARA from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of MARA in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $34.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.80.

MARA Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 4.00 and a quick ratio of 4.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $21.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.16. The company has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34 and a beta of 5.76.

MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The business services provider reported ($0.42) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.38) by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $131.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.26 million. MARA had a net margin of 27.48% and a negative return on equity of 8.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.05) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MARA Holdings, Inc. will post -1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jay P. Leupp sold 11,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.06, for a total transaction of $303,072.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 142,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,857,565.36. This represents a 7.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Frederick G. Thiel sold 27,505 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.50, for a total value of $646,367.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,128,090 shares in the company, valued at $97,010,115. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,410 shares of company stock valued at $2,485,329 in the last quarter. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MARA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MARA. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in MARA by 27.7% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 226,199 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,669,000 after acquiring an additional 49,062 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in MARA by 8.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,656,363 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,086,000 after buying an additional 217,106 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its stake in MARA by 112.4% in the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 203,975 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,308,000 after buying an additional 107,963 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MARA in the third quarter valued at approximately $640,000. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of MARA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,557,000. 44.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About MARA

MARA Holdings, Inc operates as a digital asset technology company that mines digital assets with a focus on the bitcoin ecosystem in United States. The company was formerly known as Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc and changed its name to MARA Holdings, Inc in August 2024. MARA Holdings, Inc was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.