Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $5.00 to $4.25. The stock had previously closed at $4.16, but opened at $3.80. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Marqeta shares last traded at $3.9710, with a volume of 1,966,953 shares trading hands.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research lowered Marqeta from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Marqeta in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $4.50 price target (down from $8.00) on shares of Marqeta in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of Marqeta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Marqeta from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marqeta currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $5.14.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jason M. Gardner sold 113,366 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total value of $566,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 303,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,517,335. This trade represents a 27.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 218,509 shares of company stock worth $1,092,545 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.61% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Marqeta

Here are the key news stories impacting Marqeta this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — break‑even EPS vs. a small loss expected and revenue of $172.1M vs. ~$167M consensus; TPV and revenue growth were highlighted on the call. Q4 Highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Full‑year 2026 revenue guidance was raised above sell‑side consensus ($699.9M–$712.4M vs. ~$684.6M), suggesting stronger-than-expected demand for issuing and embedded finance. FY Guidance
• Neutral Sentiment: Company provided earnings materials and an earnings‑call slide deck and transcript (useful for modeling revenue/TPV cadence and expense cadence). Earnings Presentation
• Negative Sentiment: First‑quarter 2026 revenue guidance came in slightly below consensus ($162.7M–$165.5M vs. ~$167.2M), which investors often react to more negatively than FY guidance. Q1 Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts trimmed price targets and kept neutral/equal‑weight ratings — UBS cut its PT to $4.25 (neutral) and Morgan Stanley cut to $5 (equal weight), signaling tempered near‑term expectations. UBS Note Morgan Stanley Note
• Negative Sentiment: Halper Sadeh LLC announced an investigation into whether Marqeta officers/directors breached fiduciary duties — potential litigation or governance concerns can pressure the stock. PR Newswire

Institutional Investors 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 Marqeta by 193.0% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,360,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,554,741 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $3,037,000 after purchasing an additional 381,016 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Marqeta during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,057,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new position in shares of Marqeta in the 2nd quarter valued at $460,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Marqeta during the second quarter worth $44,463,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

Marqeta Stock Down 7.2%

The company’s 50-day moving average is $4.44 and its 200 day moving average is $4.97. The company has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -128.67 and a beta of 1.48.

Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.01. Marqeta had a negative net margin of 2.23% and a negative return on equity of 1.56%. The business had revenue of $172.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.05) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Marqeta, Inc. will post 0.06 EPS 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.