Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Price Target Raised to $765.00

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald from $695.00 to $765.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 19.81% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Clear Str raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $665.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $665.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $632.00 target price (up from $609.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $702.91.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $638.50 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $586.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $536.21. The company has a market cap of $559.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. Mastercard has a twelve month low of $464.52 and a twelve month high of $644.24.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.66 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.73% and a return on equity of 260.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.38 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Mastercard will post 19.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,372 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $575.00, for a total value of $8,838,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,693 shares in the company, valued at $53,873,475. The trade was a 14.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Linda Kirkpatrick sold 4,280 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.31, for a total transaction of $2,440,926.80. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 31,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,781,695.49. The trade was a 12.07% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,420 shares of company stock worth $22,882,963. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Mastercard by 1.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,964,305 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $18,984,867,000 after buying an additional 486,283 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 10.4% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,123,041 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,559,779,000 after acquiring an additional 480,725 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Mastercard by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,225,359 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,111,216,000 after acquiring an additional 42,871 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 17.8% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,666,018 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,831,763,000 after buying an additional 554,366 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 5.8% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,626,416 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,862,527,000 after purchasing an additional 199,424 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses. The company facilitates electronic payments and provides technology that supports transactions conducted through credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payment products.

In addition to operating its payments network, Mastercard offers services in areas such as payment security, fraud prevention, authentication, cybersecurity, data and analytics, loyalty programs, digital identity and open banking.