Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) Stock Price Up 5.6% – Still a Buy?

Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) rose 5.6% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $16.64 and last traded at $16.7530. Approximately 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 Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MQ. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Marqeta in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Marqeta from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Marqeta from $4.50 to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Marqeta currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $20.12.

Marqeta Trading Up 6.3%

The stock has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 421.73 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $15.99 and its 200 day moving average is $16.66.

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

Insider Activity at Marqeta

In other Marqeta news, Director Elaine Paul sold 4,537 shares of Marqeta stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.20, for a total value of $68,962.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $135,280. The trade was a 33.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 company’s 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 transaction, the executive owned 185,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,122,935.04. This trade represents a 9.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,650 shares of company stock valued at $463,473. 12.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marqeta

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MQ. Quarry LP bought a new position in Marqeta during the third quarter worth $26,000. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Marqeta in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. EFG International AG acquired a new stake in Marqeta in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. CWM LLC grew its position in 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 last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in shares of Marqeta during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

About Marqeta

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.