Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) were up 2.1% on Friday . The company traded as high as $439.27 and last traded at $438.52. Approximately 383,357 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 2,479,730 shares. The stock had previously closed at $429.60.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Mastercard from $536.00 to $524.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Mastercard from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays lowered their target price on Mastercard from $549.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Mastercard from $540.00 to $525.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $498.13.

Mastercard Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $407.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.86, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $446.95 and a 200 day moving average of $455.54.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.09. Mastercard had a return on equity of 183.70% and a net margin of 46.09%. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.25 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 138,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.19, for a total transaction of $62,540,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 92,152,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,762,504,462.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 300 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.23, for a total value of $134,169.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,817,095.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 138,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.19, for a total value of $62,540,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,152,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,762,504,462.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,720,228 shares of company stock valued at $1,224,758,080 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $4,595,559,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 43,445.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,936,684 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,252,525,000 after buying an additional 2,929,940 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth about $660,652,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 145.6% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,777,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $784,148,000 after buying an additional 1,053,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,253,734 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,096,470,000 after buying an additional 742,076 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.