Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $534.65 and last traded at $534.65, with a volume of 651890 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $532.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MA shares. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $549.16.

Mastercard Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $489.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50 day moving average is $509.57 and its 200-day moving average is $475.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value 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. This represents a 21.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 37,486 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 4.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,497,160,000 after purchasing an additional 138,842 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 2.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 48.6% during the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 4,928 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,174,000 after purchasing an additional 1,612 shares during the period. Finally, OMC Financial Services LTD bought a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter worth about $17,854,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.