Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock Bumped Down to “Hold” by Freedom Broker

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Freedom Broker from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays increased their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Argus boosted their price target on Mastercard from $640.00 to $694.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Mastercard from $695.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Clear Str raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $620.00 in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $704.00.

Mastercard Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $655.61 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $574.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average of $591.91 and a 200 day moving average of $538.51. Mastercard has a fifty-two week low of $464.52 and a fifty-two week high of $681.99.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $9.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.66 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 260.86% and a net margin of 46.73%. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 19.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.21, for a total value of $218,377.70. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,237 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,861,559.77. The trade was a 4.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $641.00, for a total value of $2,767,197.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,915,750. The trade was a 10.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,403 shares of company stock worth $15,428,736. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 486,283 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,123,041 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,559,779,000 after acquiring an additional 480,725 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised 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 valued at $2,111,216,000 after acquiring an additional 42,871 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in Mastercard by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,626,416 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,862,527,000 after acquiring an additional 199,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,666,018 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,831,763,000 after purchasing an additional 554,366 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Truist raised its price target to $735 from $674 and reiterated a Buy rating, implying further upside from the price cited in the report. Truist raises Mastercard price target
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is expanding acceptance and payment options through new card offerings with Sampath Bank in Sri Lanka and Samsung Pay in Morocco. These partnerships could support wider use of its network, though their near-term financial contribution is unclear. Sampath Bank and Mastercard card partnership Mastercard and Samsung Pay in Morocco
• Neutral Sentiment: The CFO sold about $2.77 million of Mastercard shares. Insider sales can draw investor attention, but the reports provide no indication that the sale reflects a change in the company’s outlook; two articles appear to report the same transaction. Mastercard CFO stock sale
• Negative Sentiment: Visa and Mastercard face an additional £5 billion in collective claims over card fees, adding to legal and regulatory uncertainty around the companies’ fee practices. Additional card-fee claims against Visa and Mastercard
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation coverage cautions that Mastercard’s recent rally has largely reflected a higher earnings multiple, with analyst profit estimates barely changing after its Q3 report. That may leave the stock more vulnerable if growth or sentiment disappoints; analyst views remain divided, with some targets above the market and one cited Hold rating at $535. Mastercard valuation after its rally Analyst views on Mastercard after Q3

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions, businesses and governments. Its network supports electronic payments, including transactions made with Mastercard-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards, as well as digital payment methods.

The company provides technology for authorizing, clearing and settling transactions. It also offers services related to cybersecurity, identity verification, data analytics, fraud prevention and payment consulting.