Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Given “Overweight” Rating at Piper Sandler

Mastercard (NYSE:MA)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by analysts at Piper Sandler in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $575.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $565.00. Piper Sandler’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 10.49% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on MA. Bank of America boosted their target price on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $547.80.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $520.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $477.64 billion, a PE ratio of 39.36, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $502.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $470.24. Mastercard has a twelve month low of $394.76 and a twelve month high of $534.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.39 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard will post 14.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. The trade was a 21.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total transaction of $42,192,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 91,649,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,965,195,590.40. This represents a 0.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 208,370 shares of company stock worth $97,749,218. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% during the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. 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.