Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Receives “Overweight” Rating from Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $575.00 price objective on the credit services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $565.00.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $544.00 to $564.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. William Blair raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $549.16.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $521.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $504.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $471.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $478.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard has a 12 month low of $398.26 and a 12 month high of $534.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total transaction of $42,192,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,965,195,590.40. The trade was a 0.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 99,370 shares of company stock valued at $46,797,168 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. 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.