Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $517.22.

MA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas cut Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Mastercard from $490.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $494.94 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $475.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $462.47. Mastercard has a 1 year low of $359.77 and a 1 year high of $501.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $460.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 14.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,440,885.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 340,809 shares of company stock worth $159,610,703. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter worth about $208,000. Unique Wealth LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 18.6% during the third quarter. Unique Wealth LLC now owns 3,406 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,682,000 after buying an additional 533 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Mastercard by 7.4% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 167,963 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $82,940,000 after buying an additional 11,513 shares during the last quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Boltwood Capital Management grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.1% during the third quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,035 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,005,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company offers integrated products and value-added services for account holders, merchants, financial institutions, digital partners, businesses, governments, and other organizations, such as programs that enable issuers to provide consumers with credits to defer payments; payment products and solutions that allow its customers to access funds in deposit and other accounts; prepaid programs services; and commercial credit, debit, and prepaid payment products and solutions.