Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Now Covered by Analysts at TD Cowen

TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Free Report) in a report published on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $545.00 price objective on the credit services provider's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on MA. Mizuho reissued a buy rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $510.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, February 1st. William Blair reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $484.82.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.3 %

MA stock traded down $1.38 during trading on Thursday, reaching $467.79. 2,299,219 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,434,448. The firm's 50 day moving average is $471.59 and its 200 day moving average is $430.95. Mastercard has a twelve month low of $357.85 and a twelve month high of $490.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The firm has a market cap of $436.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.08.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 191.22% and a net margin of 44.60%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 14.35 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.32%.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 97,543,308 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total transaction of $97,450.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,527,976,823. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total value of $7,632,649.78. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 12,255 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,644.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,728 shares of company stock valued at $19,479,753 over the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,253,734 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $32,096,470,000 after purchasing an additional 742,076 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Mastercard by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,759,814 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $12,632,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303,477 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Mastercard by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,041,685 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $8,974,478,000 after acquiring an additional 676,452 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Mastercard by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,843,692 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $5,509,328,000 after acquiring an additional 2,385,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Mastercard by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,608,023 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $5,803,956,000 after acquiring an additional 605,909 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.