Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts have given Mastercard a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy", with 24 buy recommendations and an average price target of $617.93.
• Mastercard recently reported earnings of $4.15 per share, exceeding expectations, along with a revenue increase of 16.8% year-over-year.
• In the past 90 days, insiders have sold a total of 38,453 shares of the company's stock, amounting to around $20 million in sales.

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty-one ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $617.9333.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MA. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA traded up $1.6290 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $585.7690. The company had a trading volume of 2,334,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,548,391. The company's 50 day moving average price is $563.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $554.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The stock has a market cap of $529.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.03. Mastercard has a 52-week low of $461.90 and a 52-week high of $594.71.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard's payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 12,921 shares in the company, valued at $7,064,815.17. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the sale, the director owned 8,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. This represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,453 shares of company stock valued at $20,178,667. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MA. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. 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.