Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Shares Up 1.6% – Here’s What Happened

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)’s share price shot up 1.6% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $526.46 and last traded at $526.33. 341,666 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 2,443,033 shares. The stock had previously closed at $517.88.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MA shares. Argus upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $540.17.

Mastercard Stock Performance

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 cap of $481.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $499.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $468.84.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.39 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 value of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total transaction of $55,746,740.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,033,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,113,923,465.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 327,370 shares of company stock worth $153,495,958 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.3% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 801,782 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $395,920,000 after purchasing an additional 47,231 shares during the last quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 35,259 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,411,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040 shares during the last quarter. America First Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. America First Investment Advisors LLC now owns 45,362 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $22,400,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 42,755 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $21,112,000 after acquiring an additional 5,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 7.8% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 231,585 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $114,357,000 after purchasing an additional 16,657 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.