Mastercard’s (MA) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a $635.00 target price on the credit services provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $591.00.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on MA. Macquarie lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $595.64.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of MA opened at $555.63 on Friday. Mastercard has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $576.94. The stock has a market cap of $509.97 billion, a PE ratio of 42.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $528.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $501.43.

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

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mastercard

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MA. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,425,665,000 after purchasing an additional 257,312 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after buying an additional 700,769 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 2.5% in 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 buying an additional 453,773 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,971,020,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,501,814 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,800,836,000 after acquiring an additional 304,293 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Company Profile

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.