Investors Buy High Volume of Applied Digital Call Options (NASDAQ:APLD)

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders purchased 164,196 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 36% compared to the average daily volume of 121,086 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on APLD shares. Arete Research initiated coverage on Applied Digital in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Thursday, January 8th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Applied Digital from $20.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Applied Digital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Northland Securities reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Digital has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.27.

Applied Digital Price Performance

APLD traded up $4.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $38.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 40,063,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 42,650,398. The company has a market cap of $10.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -71.85 and a beta of 6.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.37. Applied Digital has a 1 year low of $3.31 and a 1 year high of $40.20. The company has a quick ratio of 4.82, a current ratio of 4.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $126.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $82.22 million. Applied Digital had a negative net margin of 43.49% and a negative return on equity of 13.53%. Applied Digital’s revenue for the quarter was up 250.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.06) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Applied Digital will post -0.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Applied Digital

In related news, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 12,000 shares of Applied Digital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total value of $425,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 233,378 shares in the company, valued at $8,273,250.10. The trade was a 4.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ella G. Benson sold 42,569 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $1,502,685.70. Following the transaction, the director owned 69,256 shares in the company, valued at $2,444,736.80. This represents a 38.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 368,053 shares of company stock valued at $13,251,886 in the last quarter. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Applied Digital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 56,450.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,129 shares in the last quarter. Dagco Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Applied Digital by 87.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.67% of the company’s stock.

Applied Digital Company Profile

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.