Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock Price

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price target boosted by Morgan Stanley from $540.00 to $544.00 in a research note released on Monday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on MA. Barclays lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Argus raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Macquarie upped their price target on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $540.17.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of MA traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $506.19. 52,246 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,437,661. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $496.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $467.30. Mastercard has a 52 week low of $384.20 and a 52 week high of $527.90. The company has a market cap of $467.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.24, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $7.37 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.39 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 14.4 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.45, for a total transaction of $50,952,050.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 91,924,308 shares in the company, valued at $42,970,017,774.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.45, for a total value of $50,952,050.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 91,924,308 shares in the company, valued at $42,970,017,774.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 327,370 shares of company stock valued at $153,495,958 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in Mastercard during the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 37 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.