Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Shares Up 2.2% – What’s Next?

Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) were up 2.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $521.84 and last traded at $516.81. Approximately 967,479 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 2,440,500 shares. The stock had previously closed at $505.56.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $565.00 target price (up from $536.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie increased their price objective on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BNP Paribas lowered Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Argus upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $540.17.

Mastercard Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $498.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $468.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company has a market capitalization of $481.44 billion, a PE ratio of 39.42, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 91,924,308 shares in the company, valued at $42,970,017,774.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 327,370 shares of company stock valued at $153,495,958 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,584,606 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $36,399,279,000 after acquiring an additional 330,872 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Mastercard by 0.3% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,651,904 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,574,347,000 after acquiring an additional 43,881 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after buying an additional 8,035,099 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,082,729 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,241,297,000 after purchasing an additional 71,569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Mastercard by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,327,168 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,908,973,000 after acquiring an additional 113,238 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.