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

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by UBS Group from $640.00 to $660.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the credit services provider's stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on MA. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, March 10th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $633.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus 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 Wednesday, reaching $577.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,347,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,605,809. 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. 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.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.31 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter 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.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 150 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.45, for a total value of $85,417.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,555 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,024,394.75. This trade represents a 4.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,207 shares of company stock worth $12,664,529. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,544,675 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $42,503,787,000 after buying an additional 365,537 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,267,937 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $11,725,627,000 after buying an additional 912,856 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Mastercard by 4.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $11,015,557,000 after buying an additional 907,184 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,657,792 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $9,800,202,000 after buying an additional 282,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Mastercard by 38.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $7,413,936,000 after buying an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

About Mastercard

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.