MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) Shares Up 2.7% – Still a Buy?

MARA Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA)’s share price traded up 2.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $18.22 and last traded at $17.23. 16,817,561 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 56,140,824 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.77.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

MARA Stock Up 1.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 4.00, a current ratio of 4.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.26. The company has a market cap of $5.49 billion, a PE ratio of 21.59 and a beta of 5.63.

MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). MARA had a net margin of 27.48% and a negative return on equity of 8.40%. The company had revenue of $131.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.05) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 34.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MARA Holdings, Inc. will post -1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Salman Hassan Khan sold 16,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.50, for a total transaction of $392,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,836,129 shares in the company, valued at $43,149,031.50. This represents a 0.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Frederick G. Thiel sold 27,505 shares of MARA stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.50, for a total value of $481,337.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,250,804 shares in the company, valued at $74,389,070. The trade was a 0.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 153,615 shares of company stock valued at $3,258,686. Company insiders own 0.97% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MARA

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

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.