Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) Stock Price Up 5.6% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) rose 5.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $16.64 and last traded at $16.7530. 362,829 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 1,017,409 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.87.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Marqeta from $4.50 to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Marqeta in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Marqeta from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $20.12.

Marqeta Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a PE ratio of 403.35 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.62.

Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.03. Marqeta had a net margin of 0.33% and a return on equity of 0.27%. The business had revenue of $165.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $164.30 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.08) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Marqeta, Inc. will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Marqeta

In other Marqeta news, Director Elaine Paul sold 4,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.20, for a total transaction of $68,962.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $135,280. This represents a 33.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CRO Todd Pollak sold 18,750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.88, for a total value of $316,500.00. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 185,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,122,935.04. The trade was a 9.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,650 shares of company stock valued at $463,473. 12.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marqeta

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in Marqeta during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,115,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Marqeta by 51.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,798,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,295,000 after buying an additional 4,029,486 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Marqeta in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $12,240,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Marqeta by 694.3% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,338,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,349,000 after buying an additional 2,044,290 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Marqeta by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,218,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,040,000 after buying an additional 1,736,796 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

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.