Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Price Target Raised to $565.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its target price raised by BMO Capital Markets from $550.00 to $565.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on MA. William Blair upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Mastercard from $540.00 to $544.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. BNP Paribas cut Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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, Compass Point assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $549.16.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.3 %

MA stock opened at $521.89 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $479.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.48, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $504.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $471.38. Mastercard has a fifty-two week low of $395.55 and a fifty-two week high of $534.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.39 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 91,649,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,965,195,590.40. The trade was a 0.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This represents a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 99,370 shares of company stock valued at $46,797,168. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,043,972,000 after purchasing an additional 453,773 shares in the last quarter. Valued Retirements Inc. bought a new stake in Mastercard in the third quarter worth approximately $259,000. Brophy Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,956,000. Conway Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter valued at approximately $9,889,000. Finally, Resources Management Corp CT ADV increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 19.0% during the third quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 4,108 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,029,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.