Jefferies Financial Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its target price hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from $590.00 to $610.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 15.28% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on MA. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $575.00 price target (up from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $559.28.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $529.16 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $485.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.03, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $514.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $479.31. Mastercard has a 1 year low of $411.60 and a 1 year high of $535.77. 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 (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. The trade was a 21.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd raised its holdings in Mastercard by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,385,383,000 after purchasing an additional 62,891 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its stake in Mastercard by 4.7% in the third quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $410,813,000 after buying an additional 37,486 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 4.8% in the third 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,474,151,000 after acquiring an additional 100,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 48.6% during the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 4,928 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,174,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by 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.