Mastercard (NYSE:MA) PT Raised to $575.00 at Robert W. Baird

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price objective increased by Robert W. Baird from $545.00 to $575.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on MA. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Argus raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $524.64.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $514.07 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $484.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $463.60. Mastercard has a 1-year low of $359.77 and a 1-year high of $515.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $477.89 billion, a PE ratio of 40.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. Mastercard had a return on equity of 179.78% and a net margin of 46.45%. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid 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 0.51%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 20.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $6,114,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,304 shares in the company, valued at $12,423,320. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $6,114,745.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,304 shares in the company, valued at $12,423,320. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total transaction of $55,746,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 92,033,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,113,923,465.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 340,809 shares of company stock valued at $159,610,703 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 151.5% during the 1st quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 1,235 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $595,000 after acquiring an additional 744 shares in the last quarter. Schulz Wealth LTD. purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth $217,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its holdings in Mastercard by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 41,250 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $19,865,000 after purchasing an additional 2,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in Mastercard by 6.0% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,285 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,912,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

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.