Mizuho Increases Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Price Target to $532.00

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price objective upped by Mizuho from $496.00 to $532.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Compass Point initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $537.92.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA traded up $8.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $508.08. The stock had a trading volume of 3,753,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,450,197. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $495.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $466.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Mastercard has a one year low of $378.48 and a one year high of $527.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $469.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 14.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.18%.

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 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at $43,113,923,465.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 340,809 shares of company stock worth $159,610,703. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $3,971,020,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $660,652,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 145.6% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,777,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $784,148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053,616 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $259,071,000. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its position in Mastercard by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,293,617 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,586,107,000 after acquiring an additional 387,317 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.