MARA (NASDAQ:MARA) Shares Up 11.5% After Earnings Beat

MARA Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA)’s stock price shot up 11.5% during trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $14.85 and last traded at $13.88. 36,068,192 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 4% from the average session volume of 34,833,117 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.45.

The business services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by $1.56. The firm had revenue of $214.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.11 million. MARA had a negative return on equity of 8.40% and a net margin of 27.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on MARA. B. Riley boosted their price objective 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. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of MARA in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. Macquarie boosted their price objective on shares of MARA from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of MARA in a research note on Thursday. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of MARA in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MARA has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.67.

Insider Transactions at MARA

In other news, CEO Frederick G. Thiel sold 27,505 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.01, for a total transaction of $495,365.05. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,100,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,851,535.85. The trade was a 0.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Salman Hassan Khan sold 16,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.50, for a total transaction of $392,450.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,836,129 shares in the company, valued at $43,149,031.50. This trade represents a 0.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 101,215 shares of company stock valued at $2,033,766. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MARA

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MARA. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MARA during the fourth quarter valued at $46,413,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MARA by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,782,941 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $650,390,000 after buying an additional 2,706,271 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in MARA by 192.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,897,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,817,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248,292 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in MARA by 44.3% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,039,871 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $67,749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240,354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in MARA in the fourth quarter valued at $13,416,000. 44.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MARA Stock 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 has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a PE ratio of 17.62 and a beta of 5.76. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.42.

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.