Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Trading Up 0% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) were up 0% during mid-day trading on Friday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $533.00 to $567.00. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Mastercard traded as high as $523.39 and last traded at $520.42. Approximately 618,952 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 2,444,075 shares. The stock had previously closed at $520.40.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on MA. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Macquarie upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $549.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total transaction of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. This represents a 0.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 208,370 shares of company stock valued at $97,749,218. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $479.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $503.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $470.59.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business 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 business earned $3.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.45 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.97%.

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.