Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Shares Up 0.2% After Analyst Upgrade

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) shot up 0.2% during trading on Wednesday after Robert W. Baird raised their price target on the stock from $545.00 to $575.00. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Mastercard traded as high as $508.92 and last traded at $508.18. 520,013 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 2,430,974 shares. The stock had previously closed at $507.23.

MA has been the subject of several other research reports. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 price target for the company. Argus raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $524.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $6,114,745.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,423,320. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 340,809 shares of company stock worth $159,610,703 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MA. Fragasso Group Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. now owns 1,297 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the first quarter worth $270,000. Guinness Asset Management LTD increased its stake in Mastercard by 9.2% in the first quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 80,862 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $38,937,000 after purchasing an additional 6,820 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd increased its stake in Mastercard by 1.5% in the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 78,774 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $37,935,000 after purchasing an additional 1,188 shares during the period. Finally, Hyperion Partners LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 26.4% in the first quarter. Hyperion Partners LLC now owns 992 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $485.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $463.95. The firm has a market cap of $477.74 billion, a PE ratio of 40.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.85 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 179.78% and a net margin of 46.45%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.99%.

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.