Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Price Target Raised to $567.00 at TD Cowen

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its target price lifted by TD Cowen from $533.00 to $567.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Macquarie increased their price objective on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Argus upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted their price target on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $572.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $549.16.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock traded up $1.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $521.89. 2,408,193 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,452,135. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $504.09 and its 200-day moving average is $471.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $479.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard has a 52 week low of $395.55 and a 52 week high of $534.03.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

Insider Activity

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total transaction of $42,192,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 91,649,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. This represents a 0.10 % 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 link. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. This trade represents a 21.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 208,370 shares of company stock valued at $97,749,218 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mastercard

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 74.0% during the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

About Mastercard

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.