Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) has been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $5.50.

MQ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research lowered Marqeta from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $5.00 price target on Marqeta and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Marqeta from $5.75 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Marqeta in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Marqeta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th.

Marqeta Trading Up 1.1%

NASDAQ:MQ traded up $0.05 on Friday, reaching $4.46. 4,212,808 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,052,807. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -55.75 and a beta of 1.48. The company’s 50 day moving average is $4.80 and its 200-day moving average is $5.30. Marqeta has a 1-year low of $3.47 and a 1-year high of $7.04.

Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). Marqeta had a negative net margin of 6.74% and a negative return on equity of 4.22%. The firm had revenue of $163.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.37 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.06) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Marqeta will post 0.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jason M. Gardner sold 69,043 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total transaction of $345,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 293,334 shares in the company, valued at $1,466,670. The trade was a 19.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 218,509 shares of company stock valued at $1,092,545 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MQ. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in Marqeta by 272.3% during the second quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 520,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,037,000 after buying an additional 381,016 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Marqeta by 193.0% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,360,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,554,741 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Marqeta in the second quarter valued at about $4,057,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new position in shares of Marqeta during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $460,000. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Marqeta during the 1st quarter worth approximately $698,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

About Marqeta

Marqeta is a modern card issuing and payment processing platform that enables businesses to design, launch and manage customized payment cards. The company offers a fully programmable open API that allows clients to create virtual, physical and tokenized payment cards with real-time transaction controls and dynamic spend limits. By leveraging Marqeta’s infrastructure, companies can streamline their payment operations, reduce time to market and deliver tailored payment experiences to end consumers.

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Oakland, California, Marqeta was established by CEO Jason Gardner with the goal of transforming traditional card issuance through cloud-native technology.