Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Receives “Outperform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Mastercard (NYSE:MA)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $572.00 target price on the credit services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price indicates a potential upside of 9.81% from the stock’s current price.

MA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Mastercard from $544.00 to $564.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. William Blair upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $547.40.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA traded down $0.99 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $520.89. 755,434 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,444,357. Mastercard has a fifty-two week low of $394.76 and a fifty-two week high of $534.03. The firm has a market cap of $478.09 billion, a PE ratio of 39.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $502.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $470.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 14.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total transaction of $55,746,740.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 92,033,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,113,923,465.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of Mastercard 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 in the company, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 327,370 shares of company stock worth $153,495,958. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the third quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in Mastercard during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.