Cantor Fitzgerald Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price target upped by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $695.00 to $765.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 19.81% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $679.00 to $681.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $680.00 to $713.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. President Capital increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $693.00 to $729.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Mastercard from $720.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $702.91.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $638.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Mastercard has a 52-week low of $464.52 and a 52-week high of $644.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $586.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $536.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $559.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.78.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.66 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 260.86% and a net margin of 46.73%. The business’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.38 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Mastercard will post 19.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,372 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $575.00, for a total transaction of $8,838,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,873,475. This represents a 14.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sachin Mehra sold 3,266 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $584.00, for a total value of $1,907,344.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 36,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,403,600. The trade was a 8.18% 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. Insiders sold a total of 39,420 shares of company stock valued at $22,882,963 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,964,305 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $18,984,867,000 after purchasing an additional 486,283 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 10.4% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,123,041 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,559,779,000 after buying an additional 480,725 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,225,359 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,111,216,000 after buying an additional 42,871 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in Mastercard by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,626,416 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,862,527,000 after acquiring an additional 199,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,666,018 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,831,763,000 after acquiring an additional 554,366 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS Group raised its Mastercard price target from $670 to $750 and upgraded the stock to “Buy.” The new target implies approximately 17.5% upside from the referenced $638.50 share price. UBS Group Mastercard rating information
• Positive Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald increased its target from $695 to $765 and assigned an “Overweight” rating, implying approximately 19.8% upside from the referenced share price. Cantor Fitzgerald Mastercard rating information
• Positive Sentiment: Additional analysts raised their Mastercard targets to $742, $726, $700 and $740, reinforcing a favorable view of the payments company’s growth prospects. Mastercard price target raised to $742 Mastercard price target raised to $726
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo analysts also forecast strong appreciation for Mastercard shares, adding to the positive sell-side momentum. JPMorgan Mastercard outlook Wells Fargo Mastercard outlook

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses. The company facilitates electronic payments and provides technology that supports transactions conducted through credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payment products.

In addition to operating its payments network, Mastercard offers services in areas such as payment security, fraud prevention, authentication, cybersecurity, data and analytics, loyalty programs, digital identity and open banking.