Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ)

Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders bought 3,243 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 238% compared to the typical daily volume of 959 call options.

Marqeta Stock Performance

Shares of MQ stock traded up $0.04 on Wednesday, reaching $5.67. 2,117,604 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,463,528. Marqeta has a 12-month low of $4.40 and a 12-month high of $7.36. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -286.00 and a beta of 1.77. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $5.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.29.

Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $125.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.87 million. Marqeta had a positive return on equity of 0.51% and a negative net margin of 2.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 45.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.07) earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Marqeta will post 0.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Marqeta

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MQ. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Marqeta by 17,340.0% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 4,335 shares during the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Marqeta by 633.2% in the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 6,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 5,300 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Marqeta by 7,852.8% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 10,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 9,973 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Marqeta in the second quarter worth about $61,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Marqeta in the first quarter worth about $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on MQ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Marqeta from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group cut their target price on Marqeta from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $9.00 target price on shares of Marqeta in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Marqeta from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.11.

About Marqeta

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.