Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Shares of Applied Digital Co. (NASDAQ:APLD) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $7.91, but opened at $8.34. Applied Digital shares last traded at $8.54, with a volume of 9,657,642 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on APLD. HC Wainwright upped their target price on Applied Digital from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on Applied Digital from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Compass Point began coverage on Applied Digital in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $10.00 target price on the stock. Northland Securities upped their target price on Applied Digital from $12.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $11.00 target price on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.11.

Applied Digital Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.22 and a beta of 4.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $8.43 and a 200-day moving average of $7.25.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 14th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $63.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.41 million. Applied Digital had a negative return on equity of 117.67% and a negative net margin of 127.86%. The company’s revenue was up 51.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.05) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Applied Digital Co. will post -0.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Wes Cummins sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.20, for a total value of $1,840,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,875,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,658,786. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.20, for a total transaction of $460,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 334,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,075,716.40. The trade was a 13.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 270,000 shares of company stock worth $2,477,000 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.81% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of APLD. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Applied Digital by 25.0% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 37,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 7,517 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Digital during the 3rd quarter worth $426,000. Jade Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Digital during the third quarter valued at about $236,000. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 159.7% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 38,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 23,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Applied Digital in the third quarter worth approximately $88,000. 65.67% of the stock is 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.