Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Trading 16.5% Higher – Should You Buy?

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) shares shot up 16.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $27.89 and last traded at $27.85. 37,619,987 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 7% from the average session volume of 35,144,125 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.90.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on APLD shares. Northland Securities raised their price objective on Applied Digital to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Applied Digital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 19th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $41.00 price target on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Craig Hallum boosted their price target on shares of Applied Digital to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Compass Point started coverage on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.20.

Applied Digital Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $7.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.65 and a beta of 6.94. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.96.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 9th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $64.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.25 million. Applied Digital had a negative return on equity of 37.14% and a negative net margin of 111.29%.The company’s revenue was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.15) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Digital

In other news, Director Chuck Hastings sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total value of $856,750.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 426,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,619,993.24. The trade was a 5.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel H. Lee sold 24,213 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.20, for a total transaction of $803,871.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 59,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,972,080. The trade was a 28.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 328,035 shares of company stock valued at $11,376,479. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Digital

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 146.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 38,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 22,730 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Applied Digital by 65.7% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 299,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,685,000 after acquiring an additional 118,877 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Digital during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Digital by 5.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,491,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,819,000 after purchasing an additional 730,978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Digital by 3.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,869,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,506,000 after purchasing an additional 70,955 shares in the last quarter. 65.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.