UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its target price increased by UBS Group from $590.00 to $610.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp upped their target price on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Compass Point initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Argus raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $549.16.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $521.89 on Thursday. 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 $479.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard has a 1-year low of $395.55 and a 1-year high of $534.03. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $504.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $471.38.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Mastercard will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors 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 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. This represents a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total value of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,965,195,590.40. This trade represents a 0.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 99,370 shares of company stock worth $46,797,168. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Goldstein Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $749,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 2,190 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Oldfather Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC now owns 827 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.