Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $601.60 and last traded at $599.7340, with a volume of 534,359 shares. The stock had previously closed at $595.09.

Mastercard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Mastercard’s upcoming third-quarter report to show double-digit earnings growth. The company’s latest quarter surpassed consensus estimates for both earnings and revenue, reinforcing confidence in continued payment-volume growth. Mastercard earnings expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s shares have moved above key technical buy points and are approaching record levels, prompting some analysts to identify the potential for a longer-term breakout. Mastercard technical breakout analysis
• Positive Sentiment: New partnerships with SoFi Tech Solutions and Orbi in Mexico allow customers to spend either cryptocurrency or fiat currency through a Mastercard-supported card, potentially expanding network usage in the growing digital-asset economy. Mastercard and Orbi crypto card program
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is broadening its growth opportunities with an Africa cybersecurity center, an Asia-Pacific fleet-payments network with WEX and stablecoin-based cross-border payment initiatives. These efforts could increase long-term transaction volumes and diversify revenue sources. Mastercard international expansion
• Neutral Sentiment: Mastercard declared a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, equivalent to a $3.48 annualized payout and a modest 0.6% yield. The dividend supports shareholder returns but is unlikely to be a major near-term catalyst.
• Neutral Sentiment: Director Julius Genachowski sold shares in multiple transactions under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The sales reduced his holdings by roughly 4%, but the scheduled nature of the transactions limits their signaling value. Mastercard director stock sale
• Negative Sentiment: Mastercard and Visa face a reported £700 million UK class action related to post-Brexit fees. Potential litigation costs or regulatory remedies could pressure future profitability. Mastercard UK class action

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MA. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $660.00 to $710.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $670.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $695.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. President Capital increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $693.00 to $729.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $580.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $681.56.

Mastercard Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $527.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.13, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $574.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $533.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.96.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $5.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.77 by $0.27. Mastercard had a return on equity of 239.99% and a net margin of 46.34%. The firm had revenue of $9.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.90 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,372 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $575.00, for a total transaction of $8,838,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,873,475. This represents a 14.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Linda Kirkpatrick sold 4,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.31, for a total value of $2,440,926.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 31,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,781,695.49. This represents a 12.07% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 68,359 shares of company stock worth $39,290,046. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mastercard

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 7.3% during the first quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd now owns 139,844 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $70,089,000 after purchasing an additional 9,504 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its stake in Mastercard by 5.4% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 28,205 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $14,093,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 105.1% in the first quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 12,834 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,412,000 after purchasing an additional 6,576 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 5.3% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,656,528 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $850,004,000 after purchasing an additional 82,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 50.1% in the first quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 14,003 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,996,000 after purchasing an additional 4,675 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses. The company facilitates the authorization, clearing and settlement of electronic payment transactions, while generally not issuing cards or extending credit itself. Its network supports payments made in stores, online and through mobile devices.

Mastercard’s products and services include consumer and commercial payment cards, digital payment solutions, payment processing, fraud prevention, cybersecurity, identity verification, data and analytics, and open banking tools.