Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Initiates Share Buyback Program

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:MA opened at $523.28 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $519.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $483.43. Mastercard has a 12-month low of $416.53 and a 12-month high of $537.13. The firm has a market cap of $480.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.58, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.39 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $562.76.

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.