Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Marqeta Call Options (NASDAQ:MQ)

Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 8,064 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 134% compared to the typical volume of 3,450 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $4.00 price target (down previously from $5.00) on shares of Marqeta in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Susquehanna decreased 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. KeyCorp cut shares of Marqeta from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Marqeta from $7.00 to $5.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Marqeta from $4.50 to $4.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marqeta has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.65.

Marqeta Stock Up 18.7 %

Shares of MQ traded up $0.66 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $4.17. 10,287,715 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,718,355. Marqeta has a 52-week low of $3.37 and a 52-week high of $7.36. The company has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 209.25 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.40.

Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $135.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $132.71 million. Marqeta had a return on equity of 1.20% and a net margin of 2.86%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Marqeta will post 0.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Marqeta

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Marqeta during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Marqeta in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Marqeta by 1,255.4% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 10,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 9,290 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Marqeta by 125.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 10,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 49,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Marqeta in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.