Analysts Set Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Target Price at $513.70

Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nineteen have issued a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $513.70.

Several research firms have commented on MA. 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. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Mastercard from $531.00 to $536.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Susquehanna raised their price target on Mastercard from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Argus upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $493.64 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $458.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $470.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $461.76. Mastercard has a 52-week low of $359.77 and a 52-week high of $501.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the firm’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 $43,113,923,465.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was 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 directly owns 92,033,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 340,809 shares of company stock valued at $159,610,703 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,584,606 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $36,399,279,000 after buying an additional 330,872 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Mastercard by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,041,685 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,974,478,000 after acquiring an additional 676,452 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.3% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,651,904 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,574,347,000 after purchasing an additional 43,881 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,082,729 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,241,297,000 after purchasing an additional 71,569 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.7% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,327,168 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,908,973,000 after purchasing an additional 113,238 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

About Mastercard

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.