William Blair Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Mastercard (NYSE:MA)

Mastercard (NYSE:MA)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by equities researchers at William Blair in a research report issued on Friday,RTT News reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on MA. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $581.72.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA traded down $2.88 on Friday, reaching $563.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,709,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,723,290. Mastercard has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $576.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $516.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.62, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $527.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $500.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after purchasing an additional 8,035,099 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,846,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,965,782 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after acquiring an additional 700,769 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,043,972,000 after purchasing an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 52.8% in the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $573,017,000 after purchasing an additional 409,334 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.