Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) Trading 5.1% Higher Following Insider Buying Activity

Shares of Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) traded up 5.1% during trading on Tuesday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The company traded as high as $4.11 and last traded at $4.09. 3,010,693 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 26% from the average session volume of 4,084,689 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.89.

Specifically, Director Judson C. Linville acquired 25,570 shares of Marqeta stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $3.93 per share, with a total value of $100,490.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 104,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $409,584.60. This represents a 32.51% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MQ shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Marqeta in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $4.50 price objective (down from $8.00) on shares of Marqeta in a research note 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. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Marqeta from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Marqeta from $6.00 to $5.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $5.14.

Marqeta Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.90. The firm has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a PE ratio of -135.00 and a beta of 1.48.

Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 1.62% and a negative net margin of 2.23%.The business had revenue of $172.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.05) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Marqeta, Inc. will post 0.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Marqeta

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MQ. Certuity LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marqeta by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 14,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 2,596 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC raised its position in Marqeta by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 66,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 2,670 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Marqeta by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 101,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marqeta by 82.2% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 2,821 shares during the period. Finally, Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Marqeta by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Jasper Ridge Partners L.P. now owns 95,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $555,000 after purchasing an additional 2,839 shares during the period. 78.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.