Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Trading 0% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) was up 0% during mid-day trading on Friday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $590.00 to $610.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Mastercard traded as high as $523.39 and last traded at $520.42. Approximately 618,952 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 2,444,075 shares. The stock had previously closed at $520.40.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Compass Point began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 target price for the company. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer started coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $565.00 price objective (up from $536.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $547.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. This represents a 0.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 208,370 shares of company stock valued at $97,749,218. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 238.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 19,710 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,732,000 after acquiring an additional 13,892 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its stake in Mastercard by 214.7% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 535,503 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $264,431,000 after purchasing an additional 365,324 shares during the period. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 5.0% during the third quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 655 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Finally, Coastwise Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Coastwise Capital Group LLC now owns 562 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $503.18 and a 200 day moving average of $470.59. 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 $477.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.39 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.45 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 issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.97%.

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.