Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) Receives $5.14 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $5.1389.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MQ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Marqeta from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Marqeta from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Marqeta in a research report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Marqeta in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $6.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Marqeta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marqeta news, Director Jason M. Gardner sold 69,043 shares of the 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 sale, the director directly owned 293,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,466,670. This represents a 19.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Judson C. Linville purchased 25,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $3.93 per share, with a total value of $100,490.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 104,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $409,584.60. This trade represents a 32.51% increase in their position. 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 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marqeta

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

Marqeta Price Performance

Shares of Marqeta stock opened at $4.02 on Monday. Marqeta has a 1-year low of $3.47 and a 1-year high of $7.04. The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of -134.00 and a beta of 1.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $4.34 and a 200-day moving average of $4.89.

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

Marqeta Company Profile

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.