Applied Digital Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:APLD)

Applied Digital Co. (NASDAQ:APLD) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 52,466 call options on the company. This is an increase of 16% compared to the typical volume of 45,142 call options.

Applied Digital Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ APLD traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $8.41. 20,802,802 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,988,871. The company has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.19 and a beta of 4.78. Applied Digital has a one year low of $2.36 and a one year high of $11.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.94.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 14th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $63.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.41 million. Applied Digital had a negative net margin of 74.95% and a negative return on equity of 88.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 51.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.05) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Applied Digital will post -0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Wednesday. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of Applied Digital from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $10.00 price target on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Applied Digital from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Lake Street Capital boosted their target price on Applied Digital from $7.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $11.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Digital

In related news, CEO Wes Cummins sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.20, for a total value of $1,840,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,875,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,658,786. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Douglas S. Miller sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.01, for a total transaction of $80,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 208,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,670,133.06. The trade was a 4.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 279,369 shares of company stock valued at $2,525,561. Insiders own 11.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of APLD. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 37,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 3,040 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Applied Digital by 14.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 43,064 shares of the company’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 5,423 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 99.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 6,507 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Digital by 381.8% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 8,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 6,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Digital in the third quarter worth approximately $59,000. 65.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Digital Company Profile

Applied Digital Corporation designs, develops, and operates datacenters in North America. Its datacenters provide digital infrastructure solutions to the high-performance computing industry. The company also provides artificial intelligence cloud services, high performance computing datacenter hosting, and crypto datacenter hosting services.