Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock Price Up 0.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)’s share price shot up 0.5% on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $572.00 to $584.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Mastercard traded as high as $507.85 and last traded at $507.21. 696,659 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 2,295,478 shares. The stock had previously closed at $504.91.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on MA. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $575.00 price objective (up from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, November 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $566.63.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $34,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 74.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1 %

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $524.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $493.43. The company has a market capitalization of $480.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.57, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.97%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.