Oppenheimer Cuts Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Price Target to $588.00

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price target cut by investment analysts at Oppenheimer from $591.00 to $588.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 11.81% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on MA. Compass Point assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $575.00 target price (up from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $562.76.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock traded up $5.92 on Thursday, hitting $525.88. 793,541 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,458,692. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $482.67 billion, a PE ratio of 39.78, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard has a 1 year low of $416.53 and a 1 year high of $537.13. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $519.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $483.15.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.39 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. This represents a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MA. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,846,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,043,972,000 after buying an additional 453,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 52.8% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $573,017,000 after buying an additional 409,334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

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.