Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Hits New 1-Year High on Strong Earnings

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $527.90 and last traded at $526.74, with a volume of 221963 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $513.69.

The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 179.78% and a net margin of 46.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.39 EPS.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Susquehanna upped their target price on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $528.00 to $538.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $565.00 price objective (up from $536.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $537.92.

Insider Activity

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,440,885.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 340,809 shares of company stock valued at $159,610,703 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth about $660,652,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 145.6% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,777,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $784,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053,616 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $259,071,000. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 13.3% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,293,617 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,586,107,000 after buying an additional 387,317 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $469.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $495.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $466.84.

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.