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

Shares of Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the twelve analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine 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 a report on the stock in the last year is $5.1389.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MQ shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Marqeta in a report on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $4.50 price target (down from $8.00) on shares of Marqeta in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Marqeta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Marqeta from $5.00 to $4.25 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Marqeta in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $6.00 target price on the stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Judson C. Linville purchased 25,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $3.93 per share, for a total transaction of $100,490.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 104,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $409,584.60. The trade was a 32.51% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jason M. Gardner sold 113,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total value of $566,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 303,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,517,335. This represents a 27.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 218,509 shares of company stock valued at $1,092,545. Company insiders own 12.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Marqeta

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Marqeta by 193.0% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,360,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,554,741 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Marqeta by 272.3% in the second quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 520,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,037,000 after acquiring an additional 381,016 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Marqeta during the second quarter worth $4,057,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new position in Marqeta during the 2nd quarter valued at $460,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Marqeta by 2,582.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 719,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,797,000 after purchasing an additional 692,354 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

Marqeta Price Performance

NASDAQ MQ opened at $4.02 on Monday. Marqeta has a fifty-two week low of $3.47 and a fifty-two week high of $7.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $4.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.87. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -134.00 and a beta of 1.48.

Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $172.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $167.05 million. Marqeta had a negative return on equity of 1.62% and a negative net margin of 2.23%.The firm’s revenue was up 26.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.05) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Marqeta will post 0.06 EPS for the current year.

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.