Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its target price hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $544.00 to $564.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 8.15% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $542.88.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $521.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $478.65 billion, a PE ratio of 39.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $501.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $469.88. Mastercard has a 52-week low of $394.76 and a 52-week high of $534.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard will post 14.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $42,970,017,774.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.45, for a total value of $50,952,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 91,924,308 shares in the company, valued at $42,970,017,774.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 327,370 shares of company stock worth $153,495,958 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Goldstein Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $749,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Oldfather Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.6% during the third quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC now owns 827 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 4.8% during the third quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC now owns 455 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Guerra Pan Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% in the third quarter. Guerra Pan Advisors LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 21 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.