Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Given “Outperform” Rating at William Blair

William Blair restated their outperform rating on shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) in a report issued on Monday,RTT News reports.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $575.00 target price (up previously from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Argus raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Oppenheimer started coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $549.16.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $526.60 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $483.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.83, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard has a 12-month low of $404.32 and a 12-month high of $534.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $507.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $474.33.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MA. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Mastercard by 46.4% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,785 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,120,000 after acquiring an additional 4,685 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter valued at about $391,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter worth about $5,512,000. Redwood Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 4,085 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,967,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $608,000. 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.