Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Reaches New 12-Month High After Dividend Announcement

Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $537.00 and last traded at $535.88, with a volume of 769645 shares. The stock had previously closed at $531.01.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Macquarie raised their price target on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $575.00 price target (up previously from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $562.88.

Mastercard Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $477.24 billion, a PE ratio of 39.33, a PEG ratio of 2.38 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. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $519.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $483.15.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.39 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MA. &PARTNERS grew its stake in Mastercard by 592.0% during the 2nd quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 5,847 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,579,000 after purchasing an additional 5,002 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 7.5% in the second quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 5,392 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,379,000 after buying an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. Diversified LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 60.9% in the second quarter. Diversified LLC now owns 713 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,171 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,399,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,717 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,640,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.