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

Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors bought 3,285 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 62% compared to the average volume of 2,028 put options.

Marqeta Stock Performance

Shares of MQ stock opened at $3.93 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $4.91 and its 200-day moving average is $5.20. Marqeta has a 1 year low of $3.37 and a 1 year high of $7.36. The stock has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 196.50 and a beta of 1.73.

Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.01). Marqeta had a net margin of 2.86% and a return on equity of 1.20%. The business had revenue of $127.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $128.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.07) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Marqeta will post 0.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Marqeta from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. William Blair downgraded shares of Marqeta from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Marqeta from $7.00 to $5.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. KeyCorp lowered Marqeta from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Marqeta from $5.50 to $4.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.27.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marqeta

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MQ. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marqeta by 8.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 44,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 3,548 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in shares of Marqeta by 0.7% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 488,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,402,000 after buying an additional 3,627 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marqeta by 9.2% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 47,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 3,979 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Marqeta by 17,340.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 4,335 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Marqeta by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 84,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $505,000 after acquiring an additional 5,257 shares during the period. 78.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.