Citigroup Raises Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Price Target to $538.00

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its target price increased by Citigroup from $528.00 to $538.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on MA. Bank of America downgraded Mastercard from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $505.00 to $480.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Mastercard from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp raised their price target on Mastercard from $490.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Mastercard from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Mastercard from $549.00 to $530.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $507.27.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $462.02 on Thursday. Mastercard has a 1-year low of $359.77 and a 1-year high of $490.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $446.48 and its 200 day moving average is $456.83. The company has a market cap of $429.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.73, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.09. Mastercard had a return on equity of 179.78% and a net margin of 46.45%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Mastercard will post 14.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 151,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.55, for a total value of $68,335,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 95,930,308 shares in the company, valued at $43,413,260,885.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 151,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.55, for a total value of $68,335,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 95,930,308 shares in the company, valued at $43,413,260,885.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,028 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.06, for a total value of $4,072,169.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 58,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,585,476.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,462,228 shares of company stock worth $1,110,349,560 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 524 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 752 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 1,253 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,100 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,308,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KRS Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 2,724 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,162,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.