Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Receives Consensus Rating of "Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Mastercard carries a consensus “Buy” rating from 31 analysts, with 25 buys, five strong buys and one sell. The average 12-month price target is approximately $664.71, above the reported share price of $591.35.
• Mastercard’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $5.04 versus a $4.77 consensus estimate and revenue of $9.28 billion. Revenue increased 14.1% year over year, while analysts expect full-year EPS of about $19.86.
• Institutional investors own 97.28% of the stock, while insiders have sold about $40.6 million of shares over the past 90 days. Mastercard also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.87, representing a 0.6% yield.

Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Buy" by the thirty-one analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and five have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $664.7143.

MA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Mastercard from $629.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Clear Str raised Mastercard to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Mastercard from $640.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, insider J. Mehra Sachin sold 7,444 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.13, for a total value of $4,296,155.72. Following the sale, the insider owned 40,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,613,851.08. This represents a 15.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 4,280 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.31, for a total transaction of $2,440,926.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 31,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,781,695.49. This trade represents a 12.07% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 71,357 shares of company stock worth $40,637,262 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. VELA Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 73.4% in the second quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $853,000 after acquiring an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. Giverny Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.7% during the second quarter. Giverny Capital Inc. now owns 28,816 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $14,800,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.9% during the second quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC now owns 754 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 58.2% in the 2nd quarter. Principia Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,626,416 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,862,527,000 after purchasing an additional 199,424 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $591.35 on Friday. Mastercard has a 1 year low of $464.52 and a 1 year high of $601.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company's 50-day moving average is $547.06 and its 200 day moving average is $519.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $518.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.72.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.08 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.34% and a return on equity of 239.99%. Mastercard's revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.15 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.14%.

Key Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard has restarted international card-payment services in Syria for the first time in roughly 15 years after regulatory changes, potentially reopening transaction-volume opportunities in the country. Visa is also entering the market, limiting Mastercard’s ability to capture the opportunity exclusively. Visa, Mastercard begin first Syria global card payments in years
• Positive Sentiment: A new partnership with Asia-Pacific travel-experiences platform Klook aims to provide Mastercard cardholders with travel benefits and create additional spending touchpoints as experience-led tourism expands across the region. The initiative could support cross-border payments and customer engagement, although financial terms were not disclosed. Klook and Mastercard collaborate to enhance travelers' experiences across Asia Pacific
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard said CFO Ling Hai will speak at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference on September 10. The presentation may offer updates on growth, travel spending and digital payments, but it does not change current financial guidance. Mastercard to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conference
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard’s name appears as a supporter of a Ripple XRPL hackathon, highlighting continued interest in blockchain development. However, the event is not evidence of a major XRP or XRPL commercial rollout by Mastercard. Mastercard’s Name Is on the Ripple Hackathon, But Don’t Get Ahead of Yourself
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary argues that Mastercard’s strong earnings profile and roughly 61% net margin are already reflected in the stock’s elevated valuation. The shares’ retreat after nearing their high may therefore reflect profit-taking and concern that further gains require continued strong execution. Mastercard's Record Stalls With 61% Margin Already Priced In

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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