UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock Price

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at UBS Group from $590.00 to $610.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. UBS Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 16.88% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Macquarie raised their price target on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $565.00 target price (up previously from $536.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Argus raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $549.16.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $521.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $479.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Mastercard has a 1 year low of $395.55 and a 1 year high of $534.03. The company’s fifty day moving average is $504.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $471.04.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.39 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard will post 14.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. This represents a 23.76 % 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 109,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.45, for a total transaction of $50,952,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 91,924,308 shares in the company, valued at $42,970,017,774.60. This represents a 0.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 208,370 shares of company stock worth $97,749,218. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MA. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,043,972,000 after buying an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. Valued Retirements Inc. acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the third quarter worth about $259,000. Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,956,000. Conway Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth about $9,889,000. Finally, Resources Management Corp CT ADV grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 4,108 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,029,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

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.