Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-three have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $562.76.

Several research firms recently issued reports on MA. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Foster & Motley Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 1,186 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $523,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 125,770 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $55,485,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 47,635 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $21,015,000 after buying an additional 1,842 shares in the last quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 41,080 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $18,123,000 after buying an additional 630 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.9% in the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 413,193 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $182,276,000 after buying an additional 19,480 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $516.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $473.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard has a 1-year low of $418.54 and a 1-year high of $537.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $524.15 and a 200-day moving average of $491.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.