Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on MA. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $634.04.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $566.35 on Friday. Mastercard has a 12-month low of $465.59 and a 12-month high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $511.99 billion, a PE ratio of 38.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $580.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $564.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The company had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.50 EPS. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.50%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total value of $10,202,433.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,294. This trade represents a 35.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,421,213,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 55,868.1% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,421,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,541,880,000 after purchasing an additional 13,397,168 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth $6,725,317,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth $4,238,764,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Mastercard by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,413,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,765,378 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

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.