Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Trading Up 1.5% – What’s Next?

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)’s share price shot up 1.5% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $513.82 and last traded at $513.82. 881,094 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 2,418,300 shares. The stock had previously closed at $506.28.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MA. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $536.74.

Mastercard Stock Up 2.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $494.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $466.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $470.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.93, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 179.78% and a net margin of 46.45%. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.33 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders 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 of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total value of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 91,649,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,965,195,590.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 340,809 shares of company stock worth $159,610,703 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Executive Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Executive Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,462 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,141,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 337 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 79.6% during the 3rd quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 175,930 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $86,874,000 after acquiring an additional 77,986 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,097,000. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 72,132 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $35,619,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during 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.