Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Earns Overweight Rating from Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reissued their overweight rating on shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a $575.00 price objective on the credit services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $565.00.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $544.00 to $564.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Macquarie upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $549.16.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $521.89 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $479.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $504.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $471.38. Mastercard has a one year low of $395.55 and a one year high of $534.03. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.39 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mastercard will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. The trade was a 0.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 99,370 shares of company stock valued at $46,797,168 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

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