Mizuho Trims Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Target Price to $478.00

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price target lowered by Mizuho from $480.00 to $478.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on MA. Raymond James raised their price target on Mastercard from $452.00 to $504.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. KeyCorp raised their price target on Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $504.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. William Blair reiterated an outperform rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $493.55.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA opened at $443.58 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $469.57 and a 200-day moving average of $437.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $413.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.26, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.08. Mastercard has a 12-month low of $357.85 and a 12-month high of $490.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.09. Mastercard had a return on equity of 183.70% and a net margin of 46.09%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 14.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total transaction of $3,736,447.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 47,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,672,828.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total value of $3,736,447.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 47,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,672,828.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total transaction of $97,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,527,976,823. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 583,088 shares of company stock worth $266,873,978. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. VitalStone Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 60 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors 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.