Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 13,884,173 shares, a drop of 19.7% from the February 12th total of 17,289,600 shares. Currently, 3.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,145,298 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,145,298 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Currently, 3.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marqeta

In related news, Director Jason M. Gardner sold 69,043 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total transaction of $345,215.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 293,334 shares in the company, valued at $1,466,670. The trade was a 19.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Judson C. Linville bought 25,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $3.93 per share, for a total transaction of $100,490.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 104,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $409,584.60. This represents a 32.51% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 218,509 shares of company stock valued at $1,092,545 in the last quarter. 12.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marqeta

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Certuity LLC boosted its holdings in Marqeta by 22.3% during the third quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 14,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 2,596 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC increased its stake in Marqeta by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 66,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 2,670 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Marqeta by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 101,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $536,000 after buying an additional 2,711 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Marqeta by 82.2% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 2,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Marqeta by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. now owns 95,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 2,839 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

Marqeta Stock Performance

MQ traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $3.97. 2,906,768 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,946,115. The company has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -132.33 and a beta of 1.48. Marqeta has a one year low of $3.47 and a one year high of $7.04. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $4.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.79.

Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.01. Marqeta had a negative return on equity of 1.62% and a negative net margin of 2.23%.The company had revenue of $172.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.05) earnings per share. Marqeta’s quarterly revenue was up 26.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Marqeta will post 0.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MQ. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $4.50 target price (down from $8.00) on shares of Marqeta in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Marqeta in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wolfe Research cut Marqeta from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Marqeta from $5.00 to $4.25 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Marqeta from $6.00 to $5.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $5.14.

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.