Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Price Target Lowered to $525.00 at Evercore ISI

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its target price decreased by Evercore ISI from $540.00 to $525.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

MA has been the subject of several other reports. Mizuho reduced their price target on Mastercard from $480.00 to $478.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They set a buy rating and a $545.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $524.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Mastercard from $520.00 to $510.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a positive rating and set a $535.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $496.91.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA stock opened at $441.08 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $451.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $452.88. Mastercard has a 52 week low of $359.77 and a 52 week high of $490.00. The stock has a market cap of $410.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.09. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.09% and a return on equity of 183.70%. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. Mastercard’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 14.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 20.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.23, for a total transaction of $134,169.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,817,095.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.15, for a total transaction of $50,743,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 97,432,308 shares in the company, valued at $44,541,179,602.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.23, for a total value of $134,169.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 4,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,817,095.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,163,228 shares of company stock worth $1,428,540,870. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $4,595,559,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 43,445.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,936,684 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,252,525,000 after purchasing an additional 2,929,940 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $660,652,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,253,734 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,096,470,000 after purchasing an additional 742,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,041,685 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,974,478,000 after purchasing an additional 676,452 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by 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.