Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Price Target Raised to $605.00 at Susquehanna

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its target price hoisted by Susquehanna from $540.00 to $605.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. William Blair upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Compass Point began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $537.92.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock traded up $8.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $508.08. The stock had a trading volume of 3,753,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,450,197. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. Mastercard has a 52 week low of $378.48 and a 52 week high of $527.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $469.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $495.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $466.84.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 14.33 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 20.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,033,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $55,746,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.