Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) Price Target Cut to $5.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) had its price objective cut by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $6.00 to $5.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 27.91% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Marqeta in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Marqeta from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Marqeta from $5.75 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Wolfe Research downgraded Marqeta from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Marqeta from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $5.22.

Marqeta Stock Down 6.0%

Shares of MQ traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $3.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,030,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,830,969. Marqeta has a 1-year low of $3.47 and a 1-year high of $7.04. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.86 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $4.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.98.

Marqeta (NASDAQ:MQ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $172.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.05 million. Marqeta had a negative net margin of 6.74% and a negative return on equity of 4.22%. Marqeta’s revenue was up 26.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.05) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Marqeta will post 0.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Marqeta news, Director Jason M. Gardner sold 69,043 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total value of $345,215.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 293,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,466,670. This represents a 19.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 218,509 shares of company stock valued at $1,092,545. Insiders own 12.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marqeta

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MQ. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in Marqeta in the second quarter worth approximately $44,463,000. Capital World Investors bought a new position in Marqeta during the 4th quarter worth about $29,115,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Marqeta by 51.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,798,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,295,000 after purchasing an additional 4,029,486 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Marqeta by 694.3% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,338,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,349,000 after purchasing an additional 2,044,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Marqeta by 1,224.5% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,897,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,064,000 after purchasing an additional 1,754,539 shares during the period. 78.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Marqeta

Here are the key news stories impacting Marqeta this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations: Marqeta reported $172.1M in revenue (up ~26.7% YoY) and break?even EPS, topping consensus revenue and EPS estimates. Strong top?line growth and the EPS improvement versus a year?ago loss were the core upside drivers. Press Release / Slides
• Positive Sentiment: Record TPV and scale milestones: Management highlighted record total payment volume and continued customer activation/scale on the platform — evidence of sustained demand for card issuing, BNPL and embedded finance use cases. Earnings Highlights
• Neutral Sentiment: Product/market momentum but uncertain near?term margin impact: Call commentary emphasized BNPL growth and embedded finance adoption, which underpin long?term TAM expansion, but timing and margin contribution from these segments remain unclear. Earnings Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: FY2026 revenue guidance raised vs. consensus: Marqeta gave FY2026 revenue guidance of roughly $699.9M–$712.4M, which is above the Street estimate — positive for medium?term revenue visibility but not a full proof of profitability improvement. Guidance / Call Materials
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 revenue guide slightly light: The Q1 2026 revenue outlook ($162.7M–$165.5M) came in a touch below consensus (~$167.2M), creating near?term revenue uncertainty that likely pressured the stock despite the FY guide. Guidance / Call Materials
• Negative Sentiment: Profitability still a concern: Marqeta reported a negative net margin and negative return on equity; the company remains unprofitable on a GAAP basis (PE negative), so investors are sensitive to guidance and path to sustained positive margins. Zacks Summary
• Negative Sentiment: Immediate market reaction was negative: Several articles note the stock fell after the release — suggesting investors wanted either stronger near?term guidance or clearer margin improvement despite good top?line and TPV metrics. Market Reaction

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.