Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Trading 0.5% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)’s stock price rose 0.5% on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $572.00 to $584.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Mastercard traded as high as $507.85 and last traded at $507.21. Approximately 696,659 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 2,295,478 shares. The stock had previously closed at $504.91.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on MA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.63.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mastercard

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter worth $1,155,000. Charles Lim Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth about $68,380,000. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 867 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in Mastercard by 9.0% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 245,305 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $108,219,000 after buying an additional 20,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co lifted its position in Mastercard by 6.5% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 32,803 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $14,471,000 after buying an additional 2,016 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.1 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $524.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $493.43. The company has a market cap of $480.10 billion, a PE ratio of 39.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.