Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.76 Per Share

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 17th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of 0.76 per share by the credit services provider on Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66.

Mastercard has raised its dividend payment by an average of 12.5% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 12 years. Mastercard has a payout ratio of 16.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Mastercard to earn $16.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.2%.

Mastercard Stock Down 2.1 %

MA stock opened at $519.96 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm has a market cap of $477.24 billion, a PE ratio of 39.33, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard has a 1 year low of $416.53 and a 1 year high of $537.13. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $519.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $483.15.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.39 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MA shares. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Compass Point initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 price target for the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. BNP Paribas downgraded Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $562.88.

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.