Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Price Target Raised to $572.00 at Citigroup

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price target raised by stock analysts at Citigroup from $566.00 to $572.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 13.34% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on MA. William Blair upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho raised 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned 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 target price of $539.33.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock traded down $3.42 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $504.66. The company had a trading volume of 882,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,442,622. The company has a market capitalization of $466.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard has a 12-month low of $384.20 and a 12-month high of $527.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $495.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $466.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.39 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 14.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.45, for a total value of $50,952,050.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 91,924,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,970,017,774.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.45, for a total transaction of $50,952,050.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 91,924,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,970,017,774.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 327,370 shares of company stock worth $153,495,958 in the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 46.4% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,785 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,120,000 after purchasing an additional 4,685 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 58.9% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,489 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $717,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 78.8% in the first quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 953 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.4% in the first quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 5,665 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,728,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 21,077 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares in 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.