Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Price Target Raised to $565.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price objective upped by BMO Capital Markets from $550.00 to $565.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on MA. Compass Point assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Mastercard from $540.00 to $544.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upped their price target on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Argus upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $549.16.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $520.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,527,547 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,448,168. Mastercard has a twelve month low of $395.55 and a twelve month high of $534.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $503.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $470.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $477.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 14.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 19.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total value of $42,192,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 91,649,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. The trade was a 0.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 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 $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,370 shares of company stock valued at $97,749,218 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the third quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in Mastercard during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.