Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-eight brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $549.16.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA opened at $512.54 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $505.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $472.76. 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 has a 1-year low of $404.32 and a 1-year high of $534.03. The company has a market cap of $470.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 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 firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.39 EPS. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were 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 $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MA. Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% during the 3rd 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. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,497,160,000 after buying an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $608,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 48.6% in the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 4,928 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares during the period. Finally, OMC Financial Services LTD acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at 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.