Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Trading Up 2.2% – Time to Buy?

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)’s stock price traded up 2.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $521.84 and last traded at $516.81. 967,479 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 2,440,500 shares. The stock had previously closed at $505.56.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MA. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. William Blair upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BNP Paribas cut shares of Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $540.17.

Mastercard Stock Up 3.1 %

The company has a market cap of $481.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $498.11 and its 200-day moving average is $468.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total value of $55,746,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,113,923,465.68. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 327,370 shares of company stock worth $153,495,958. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its stake in Mastercard by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $410,813,000 after acquiring an additional 37,486 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter worth approximately $608,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 48.6% in the second quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 4,928 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth about $2,938,000. Finally, OMC Financial Services LTD purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth about $17,854,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Company Profile

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.