Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Earns “Outperform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Mastercard (NYSE:MA)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $572.00 price objective on the credit services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 9.60% from the company’s previous close.

MA has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. William Blair upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $549.16.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $521.89 on Thursday. Mastercard has a fifty-two week low of $395.55 and a fifty-two week high of $534.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $504.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $471.04. The company has a market cap of $479.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.48, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

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. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 14.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares in the company, valued at $42,965,195,590.40. This trade represents a 0.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,440,885.80. This represents a 21.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 208,370 shares of company stock worth $97,749,218. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 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.