Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Upgraded by Clear Str to Strong-Buy Rating

Clear Str upgraded shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on MA. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Raymond James Financial set a $609.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $597.00 price target on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $653.92.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $551.15 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $503.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $516.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. The firm has a market cap of $486.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.73. Mastercard has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.73 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Mastercard will post 19.62 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,977 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $529.73, for a total transaction of $1,047,276.21. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,702,934.17. This trade represents a 10.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,793,880. This trade represents a 5.68% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,005 shares of company stock worth $3,689,976. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 20.0% during the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 108 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,939 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 590 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Thomasville National Bank increased its stake in Mastercard by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 479 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.