Mastercard (NYSE:MA) PT Lowered to $524.00 at Morgan Stanley

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price objective reduced by Morgan Stanley from $536.00 to $524.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $510.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $493.55.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.6 %

MA stock opened at $443.58 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $469.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $438.31. Mastercard has a fifty-two week low of $357.85 and a fifty-two week high of $490.00. The firm has a market cap of $413.81 billion, a PE ratio of 35.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.09. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.09% and a return on equity of 183.70%. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 14.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.99%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total value of $3,736,447.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,640 shares in the company, valued at $22,672,828.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total value of $7,632,649.78. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 12,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,644.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total value of $3,736,447.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,672,828.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 583,088 shares of company stock valued at $266,873,978. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. VitalStone Financial LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 60 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. 97.28% of the stock is 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.