Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Clear Str

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) was upgraded by analysts at Clear Str to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

MA has been the topic of several other research reports. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 29th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $597.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $631.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $653.92.

Mastercard Stock Up 3.0%

MA stock opened at $551.15 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $486.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Mastercard has a 1-year low of $464.52 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $503.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $516.04.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.73 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 19.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Mastercard news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $540.00, for a total transaction of $108,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 3,322 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,880. The trade was a 5.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total transaction of $2,534,700.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,625,225. The trade was a 22.71% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 7,005 shares of company stock worth $3,689,976 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. raised its position in Mastercard by 20.0% in the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 108 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,939 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,678,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 590 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Thomasville National Bank increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 479 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 695 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.