Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Mastercard has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from 29 research firms, with 24 analysts giving a buy rating and 2 a strong buy rating.
• The average 1-year price target for Mastercard stock is approximately $626.54, with recent analyst upgrades pushing the price targets as high as $670.00.
• In its latest quarterly report, Mastercard reported $4.15 EPS and over $8.13 billion in revenue, exceeding analyst expectations and reflecting a year-over-year revenue growth of 16.8%.

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-nine research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $626.5357.

A number of analysts have recently commented on MA shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $612.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 23rd.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $589.12 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $574.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $558.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The firm has a market cap of $532.57 billion, a PE ratio of 39.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.99. Mastercard has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect 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 given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is 20.50%.

Insider Activity

In other Mastercard news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total transaction of $178,049.04. Following the sale, the director directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total transaction of $601,447.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 49,094 shares of company stock valued at $26,521,861. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ethos Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 19.5% in the first quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,683,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the period. Fortis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 9.4% in the first quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC now owns 871 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 36.4% in the first quarter. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida now owns 693 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 18.0% in the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,870 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,766,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the first quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 22,640 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $12,409,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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