Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Receives $606.11 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $606.11.

MA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $635.00 price objective (up from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. 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. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total value of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $6,022,224,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Mastercard by 51.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,846,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $837,017,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 79,739.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,555,277 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $818,962,000 after buying an additional 1,553,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,149,181 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,817,684,000 after buying an additional 1,207,787 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $557.64 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $550.27 and a 200 day moving average of $526.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Mastercard has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-year high of $582.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $508.40 billion, a PE ratio of 40.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued 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 net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

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.