Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock Price

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price target boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $585.00 to $625.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. DZ Bank upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Seaport Res Ptn cut Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group upped their price target on Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $603.08.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA opened at $559.21 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The business’s 50 day moving average is $529.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $502.60. Mastercard has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $576.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $513.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.26, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. Research analysts expect that Mastercard will post 16.04 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,385,383,000 after buying an additional 62,891 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Mastercard by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,325,353,000 after purchasing an additional 337,905 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $194,141,000 after purchasing an additional 9,611 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its holdings in Mastercard by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $410,813,000 after purchasing an additional 37,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.