Robert W. Baird Increases Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Price Target to $575.00

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price target increased by Robert W. Baird from $545.00 to $575.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on MA. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Compass Point assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Mastercard from $531.00 to $536.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. William Blair raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $535.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $524.64.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $516.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $486.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $464.10. Mastercard has a twelve month low of $359.77 and a twelve month high of $518.00. The company has a market capitalization of $480.00 billion, a PE ratio of 41.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.51 by $0.08. Mastercard had a return on equity of 179.78% and a net margin of 46.45%. The company had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. Research analysts expect that Mastercard will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $6,114,745.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,423,320. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.45, for a total value of $50,952,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 91,924,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,970,017,774.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total value of $6,114,745.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,304 shares in the company, valued at $12,423,320. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 340,809 shares of company stock worth $159,610,703 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Violich Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 3.7% during the third quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,535 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,746,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at about $489,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.3% in the third quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 721 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 493 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 58,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $29,091,000 after buying an additional 8,997 shares during the period. 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.