Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Price Target Raised to $765.00

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price objective boosted by Cantor Fitzgerald from $695.00 to $765.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $710.00 to $688.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Evercore lifted their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $620.00 in a research note on Friday, July 31st. President Capital upped their target price on Mastercard from $693.00 to $729.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Mastercard from $696.00 to $742.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Mastercard from $633.00 to $674.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $702.91.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $638.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $559.33 billion, a PE ratio of 33.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $586.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $536.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Mastercard has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $644.24.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.73% and a return on equity of 260.86%. The company had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.66 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Mastercard will post 19.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.20%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, insider Sachin Mehra sold 3,266 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $584.00, for a total value of $1,907,344.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 36,650 shares in the company, valued at $21,403,600. This trade represents a 8.18% decrease in their position. 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, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $620.00, for a total transaction of $2,676,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,165,000. The trade was a 10.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 39,420 shares of company stock worth $22,882,963 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MA. Fundsmith LLP acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at $639,458,000. Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 147.2% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 1,682,183 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $863,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001,671 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 295.8% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 860,011 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $441,702,000 after purchasing an additional 642,724 shares during the period. SEB Asset Management AB bought a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $293,574,000. Finally, Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its position in Mastercard by 30.5% in the 1st quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 2,464,499 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,231,412,000 after buying an additional 575,412 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Key Mastercard News

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.