Susquehanna Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price target hoisted by Susquehanna from $540.00 to $605.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Compass Point started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays increased their target price on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $537.92.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA opened at $508.08 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $469.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard has a 12 month low of $378.48 and a 12 month high of $527.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $495.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $466.94.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Mastercard will post 14.35 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard 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 directly owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,440,885.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.45, for a total value of $50,952,050.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 91,924,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,970,017,774.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 327,370 shares of company stock worth $153,495,958. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at $608,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 48.6% in the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 4,928 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its position in Mastercard by 4.7% during the third quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $410,813,000 after purchasing an additional 37,486 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter worth about $2,938,000. Finally, OMC Financial Services LTD acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $17,854,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by 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.