Stock Traders Buy High Volume of MARA Call Options (NASDAQ:MARA)

MARA Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 487,019 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 49% compared to the average daily volume of 327,875 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. B. Riley raised their price objective on MARA from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of MARA from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $12.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of MARA in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of MARA from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of MARA in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $25.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 value of $392,450.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,836,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,149,031.50. The trade was a 0.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Frederick G. Thiel sold 27,505 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.80, for a total value of $544,599.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,155,595 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $82,280,781. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.97% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of MARA

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MARA by 5.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,157,491 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $116,115,000 after buying an additional 378,542 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of MARA by 261.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,236,920 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $64,249,000 after acquiring an additional 2,340,472 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MARA by 8.9% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 217,106 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MARA by 2.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,391,916 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $22,577,000 after purchasing an additional 37,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in MARA by 12.7% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,333,856 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $26,477,000 after purchasing an additional 149,805 shares during the last quarter. 44.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MARA Stock Up 8.8 %

MARA stock traded up $1.61 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $19.91. The stock had a trading volume of 88,152,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,357,320. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $21.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.15. The company has a market capitalization of $6.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.20 and a beta of 5.76. The company has a current ratio of 4.00, a quick ratio of 4.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. MARA has a 12 month low of $13.16 and a 12 month high of $34.09.

MARA (NASDAQ:MARA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The business services provider reported ($0.42) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.38) by ($0.04). MARA had a negative return on equity of 8.40% and a net margin of 27.48%. The firm had revenue of $131.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.05) earnings per share. MARA's revenue for the quarter was up 34.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that MARA will post -1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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