Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its target price boosted by UBS Group from $590.00 to $610.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

MA has been the topic of a number of other reports. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Compass Point started coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price objective for the company. William Blair raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $549.16.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:MA opened at $521.89 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $504.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $471.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $479.01 billion, a PE ratio of 39.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard has a fifty-two week low of $395.55 and a fifty-two week high of $534.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.39 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.45, for a total value of $50,952,050.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 91,924,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,970,017,774.60. This trade represents a 0.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,440,885.80. This trade represents a 21.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 208,370 shares of company stock worth $97,749,218. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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