Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Price Target Raised to $591.00

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price target hoisted by Piper Sandler from $575.00 to $591.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

MA has been the topic of several other reports. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $567.29.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $533.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $489.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.36, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Mastercard has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $537.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $524.54 and a 200 day moving average of $496.49.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Mastercard will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MA. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 8,035,099 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Mastercard by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,846,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after acquiring an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,043,972,000 after acquiring an additional 453,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 52.8% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $573,017,000 after buying an additional 409,334 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

About Mastercard

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.