Investors Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ)

Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 10,000 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 257% compared to the typical volume of 2,799 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Marqeta by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,055,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,194,000 after purchasing an additional 336,349 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Marqeta by 107.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 851,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,265,000 after buying an additional 441,617 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in Marqeta in the third quarter valued at about $1,466,000. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Marqeta during the third quarter worth about $786,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Marqeta by 671.7% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 234,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,153,000 after acquiring an additional 204,026 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

Marqeta Trading Down 4.2 %

NASDAQ MQ traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $3.76. The company had a trading volume of 575,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,126,006. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $3.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.44. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a PE ratio of 186.70 and a beta of 1.52. Marqeta has a twelve month low of $3.37 and a twelve month high of $7.36.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MQ shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Marqeta from $7.00 to $5.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Marqeta from $4.50 to $4.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Marqeta from $5.00 to $4.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Marqeta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $9.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on Marqeta from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.65.

About Marqeta

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.