Insider Selling: Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) Director Sells 69,043 Shares of Stock

Marqeta, Inc. (NASDAQ:MQ) Director Jason Gardner sold 69,043 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total value of $345,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 293,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,466,670. This trade represents a 19.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Marqeta Stock Up 2.0%

MQ traded up $0.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $5.07. 7,886,338 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,772,471. Marqeta, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $3.47 and a fifty-two week high of $7.04. The stock has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -63.38 and a beta of 1.48. The business’s 50 day moving average is $4.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.42.

Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01). Marqeta had a negative net margin of 6.74% and a negative return on equity of 4.22%. The firm had revenue of $163.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $148.37 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.06) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 27.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Marqeta, Inc. will post 0.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Marqeta

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MQ. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Marqeta in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marqeta during the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Marqeta in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Marqeta by 61.8% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 3,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Marqeta during the first quarter valued at $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MQ shares. UBS Group cut their target price on Marqeta from $5.75 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Zacks Research cut Marqeta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Marqeta to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Marqeta from $6.50 to $6.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Marqeta in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $5.50.

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.