Jefferies Financial Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $630.00 to $655.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the credit services provider's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price objective indicates a potential upside of 13.45% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on MA. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $635.00 price objective (up previously from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $633.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $608.57.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA traded up $1.44 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $577.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,347,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,605,808. The company has a market cap of $526.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $543.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $539.17. Mastercard has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $588.45.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. The business had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.31 EPS. Mastercard's revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 150 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.00, for a total transaction of $87,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,255 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,887,900. The trade was a 4.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,459,292.32. This trade represents a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,207 shares of company stock worth $12,664,529. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.