Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock Price Down 0.5% – Time to Sell?

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) fell 0.5% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $516.00 and last traded at $518.51. 907,051 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 1,751,365 shares. The stock had previously closed at $521.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MA. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $575.00 price target (up previously from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $572.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $562.76.

Mastercard Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $523.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $490.28. The company has a market cap of $470.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.74, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback 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 buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mastercard

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 74.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

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.