Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Receives $490.23 Average Price Target from Analysts

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $493.55.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MA. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $478.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $510.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $524.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $441.10 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market cap of $411.50 billion, a PE ratio of 37.29, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $470.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $437.44. Mastercard has a twelve month low of $357.85 and a twelve month high of $490.00.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.09. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.80 EPS. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard will post 14.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 22.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total transaction of $3,736,447.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 47,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,672,828.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total transaction of $7,632,649.78. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 12,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,644.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total value of $3,736,447.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 47,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,672,828.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 583,088 shares of company stock worth $266,873,978. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MA. Norges Bank bought a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $4,595,559,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 43,445.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,936,684 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,252,525,000 after acquiring an additional 2,929,940 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 3,339.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 815,506 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $322,867,000 after purchasing an additional 791,799 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,253,734 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $32,096,470,000 after purchasing an additional 742,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its stake in Mastercard by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,041,685 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,974,478,000 after purchasing an additional 676,452 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Company Profile

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.