Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Receives $611.50 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the thirty-two research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-four have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $611.50.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MA. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, June 6th. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Truist Financial started coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $640.00 target price for the company. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 949 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $535.80, for a total value of $508,474.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,512,451.80. The trade was a 6.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,428 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $588.18, for a total value of $5,545,361.04. Following the sale, the insider now owns 58,451 shares in the company, valued at $34,379,709.18. The trade was a 13.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,383 shares of company stock worth $19,035,108 over the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 70,472 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $37,108,000 after buying an additional 7,452 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. lifted its position in Mastercard by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 23,415 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $12,330,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,118,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.1%

Mastercard stock traded up $6.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $552.02. The stock had a trading volume of 3,836,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,661,414. The firm has a market capitalization of $503.28 billion, a PE ratio of 38.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.05. Mastercard has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $594.71. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $563.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $545.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.21% and a return on equity of 196.87%. The business had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.31 EPS. Mastercard's revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is 21.32%.

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.