Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.76

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 17th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of 0.76 per share by the credit services provider on Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66.

Mastercard has increased its dividend payment by an average of 14.5% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Mastercard has a dividend payout ratio of 16.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Mastercard to earn $16.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.7%.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.0 %

Mastercard stock opened at $511.89 on Wednesday. Mastercard has a 1-year low of $416.53 and a 1-year high of $537.70. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $523.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $491.10. 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 $469.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.72, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $562.76.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.