Mastercard Incorporated Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.66 (NYSE:MA)

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, September 16th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a dividend of 0.66 per share by the credit services provider on Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th.

Mastercard has increased its dividend payment by an average of 12.5% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 12 years. Mastercard has a dividend payout ratio of 15.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Mastercard to earn $16.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.9%.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.3 %

MA stock opened at $491.30 on Tuesday. Mastercard has a 1-year low of $359.77 and a 1-year high of $501.80. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $476.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $462.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $456.72 billion, a PE ratio of 39.05, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.85 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $6,114,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,304 shares in the company, valued at $12,423,320. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $6,114,745.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,423,320. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 340,809 shares of company stock valued at $159,610,703 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. William Blair raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on Mastercard from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $517.22.

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.