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

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $572.00 to $584.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 11.79% from the company’s current price.

MA has been the subject of several other reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $575.00 price objective (up from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Macquarie boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, November 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $566.63.

Mastercard Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of MA opened at $522.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $479.48 billion, a PE ratio of 39.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s fifty day moving average is $524.14 and its 200 day moving average is $493.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Mastercard has a fifty-two week low of $425.48 and a fifty-two week high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MA. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 70.5% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 9,688 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 37,608.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 337,487 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $148,886,000 after acquiring an additional 336,592 shares during the last quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 5.3% during the second quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC now owns 11,897 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,249,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $268,000. Finally, Excalibur Management Corp increased its stake in Mastercard by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 3,056 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 191 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.