Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Upgraded at Monness Crespi & Hardt

Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $640.00 target price on the credit services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on MA. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $575.00 to $591.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 price target (up from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $595.64.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $555.63 on Friday. 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 has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $576.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $528.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $501.43. The company has a market capitalization of $509.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MA. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,425,665,000 after buying an additional 257,312 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,043,972,000 after purchasing an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after purchasing an additional 8,035,099 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,501,814 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,800,836,000 after purchasing an additional 304,293 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.