Piper Sandler Upgrades Mastercard (NYSE:MA) to Strong-Buy

Key Points

• Piper Sandler upgraded Mastercard to a strong-buy rating, adding to generally bullish sentiment from analysts on the stock.
• Mastercard’s latest quarterly results were solid, with earnings of $4.60 per share beating estimates and revenue of $8.40 billion also topping forecasts, while revenue rose 15.8% year over year.
• Despite some mixed analyst moves elsewhere, Mastercard still has a consensus Buy rating and a target price of $653.81, with institutional ownership remaining very high at 97.28%.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Piper Sandler to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on MA. Weiss Ratings downgraded Mastercard from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $665.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $700.00 price target for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $653.81.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $513.24 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $496.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $519.34. The stock has a market cap of $453.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.70, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.74. Mastercard has a 1-year low of $464.52 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.73 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,897,854 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $45,612,087,000 after buying an additional 466,514 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 53,535.0% during the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 72,597,097 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $41,444,231,000 after purchasing an additional 72,461,743 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Mastercard by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $20,807,283,000 after purchasing an additional 997,536 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,686,605 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $11,773,153,000 after buying an additional 349,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its stake in Mastercard by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 17,964,658 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $10,256,368,000 after buying an additional 759,584 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard launched an Africa Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence in South Africa, a move that could deepen relationships with governments and financial institutions while reinforcing its role in digital security. Mastercard launches Africa Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence
• Positive Sentiment: The company is working with quantum computing firm OQC to explore better fraud detection, which could help Mastercard combat the large and growing fraud problem in payments. Mastercard (MA) Stock Rises as It Taps Quantum Tech to Fight $343 Billion Fraud Problem
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst began coverage on Mastercard with a bullish view, adding to sentiment support for the stock. This Mastercard Analyst Begins Coverage On A Bullish Note; Here Are Top 5 Initiations For Tuesday
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard highlighted that 87% of Moroccan SMEs remain confident about their business outlook, which is supportive of regional economic activity but is not a direct financial catalyst. Mastercard: 87% of Moroccan SMEs Confident About Business Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that a Visa-Mastercard settlement could affect rewards credit cards may pressure investor sentiment if it raises concerns about future card economics or rewards-related revenue. Visa, Mastercard settlement might impact rewards credit cards

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.

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