Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Given “Buy” Rating at Mizuho

Mizuho restated their buy rating on shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $480.00 target price on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $432.00 to $499.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $476.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research note on Thursday, December 7th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $479.62.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $477.95 on Wednesday. Mastercard has a 12-month low of $352.80 and a 12-month high of $490.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $445.88 billion, a PE ratio of 40.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $463.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $426.09.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $11.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 22.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 8,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.26, for a total transaction of $3,829,314.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,003,217.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 8,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.26, for a total transaction of $3,829,314.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,003,217.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total transaction of $7,632,649.78. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 12,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,832,644.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,628 shares of company stock worth $23,309,067 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. VitalStone Financial LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 60 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

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.