Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Trading 1.6% Higher – Time to Buy?

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)’s stock price traded up 1.6% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $534.03 and last traded at $532.90. 365,102 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 2,442,097 shares. The stock had previously closed at $524.76.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho raised 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. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $540.17.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.4 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $501.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $469.88. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $478.65 billion, a PE ratio of 39.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total transaction of $55,746,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 92,033,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,113,923,465.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 327,370 shares of company stock valued at $153,495,958 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 46.4% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,785 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,120,000 after purchasing an additional 4,685 shares during the last quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 9.0% during the first quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC now owns 20,364 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,807,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676 shares in the last quarter. Landaas & Co. WI ADV acquired a new position in Mastercard in the first quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Wealthquest Corp boosted its position in Mastercard by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. Wealthquest Corp now owns 630 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,273 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $27,099,000 after purchasing an additional 4,222 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Company Profile

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.