Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ)

Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 6,605 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 178% compared to the typical volume of 2,379 call options.

Marqeta Price Performance

Marqeta stock opened at $3.84 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 192.00 and a beta of 1.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $3.98 and a 200-day moving average of $4.78. Marqeta has a one year low of $3.37 and a one year high of $7.36.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Marqeta from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $9.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Marqeta from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $7.00 to $5.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Marqeta from $4.50 to $4.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Marqeta from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Marqeta from $7.00 to $5.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.82.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marqeta

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Marqeta by 9.9% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 60,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 5,481 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Marqeta by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 460,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,523,000 after acquiring an additional 25,012 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Marqeta by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 116,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $637,000 after acquiring an additional 7,097 shares during the last quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Marqeta by 481.4% in the 2nd quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 439,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,408,000 after acquiring an additional 363,835 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Marqeta by 197.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 286,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,567,000 after purchasing an additional 189,882 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

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.