Marqeta Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:MQ)

Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors acquired 3,285 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 62% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,028 put options.

Marqeta Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Marqeta stock traded up $0.07 on Friday, hitting $4.03. 4,089,616 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,278,987. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $4.93 and its 200 day moving average is $5.22. The stock has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 198.00 and a beta of 1.73. Marqeta has a 52-week low of $3.37 and a 52-week high of $7.36.

Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.01). Marqeta had a return on equity of 1.20% and a net margin of 2.86%. The company had revenue of $127.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $128.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.07) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Marqeta will post 0.06 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on MQ shares. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Marqeta from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Marqeta from $5.50 to $4.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Marqeta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $9.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Marqeta from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, William Blair cut shares of Marqeta from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Marqeta presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.27.

Institutional Trading of Marqeta

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its position in shares of Marqeta by 46.8% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,055,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,194,000 after acquiring an additional 336,349 shares during the last quarter. Visa Foundation acquired a new stake in shares of Marqeta in the second quarter valued at approximately $68,197,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Marqeta by 3.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 47,435,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,717,000 after buying an additional 1,642,621 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in Marqeta by 27.6% in the 1st quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 7,418,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604,223 shares during the period. Finally, Comerica Bank raised its stake in Marqeta by 27.8% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,007,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,007,000 after acquiring an additional 219,001 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

Marqeta Company Profile

Marqeta, Inc operates a cloud-based open application programming interface platform that delivers card issuing and transaction processing services. It offers its solutions in various verticals, including financial services, on-demand services, expense management, and e-commerce enablement, as well as buy now, pay later.