Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Given New $565.00 Price Target at Macquarie

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its target price lifted by Macquarie from $505.00 to $565.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $540.17.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $505.58 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $496.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $467.30. Mastercard has a 12 month low of $384.20 and a 12 month high of $527.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $467.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its 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. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.39 EPS. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Mastercard will post 14.35 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 19.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,033,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard 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 directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total transaction of $55,746,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 92,033,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 327,370 shares of company stock valued at $153,495,958. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Mastercard by 46.4% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,785 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,120,000 after buying an additional 4,685 shares in the last quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 679 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Tobam raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 8.0% during the first quarter. Tobam now owns 1,730 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $833,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth $10,604,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.