Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $594.71 and last traded at $590.78, with a volume of 2238068 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $589.54.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, March 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $550.00 target price for the company. Finally, Macquarie reduced their target price on Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $610.00.

Mastercard Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $551.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $543.22. The company has a market capitalization of $538.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.53, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.05.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. The company had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.31 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 14,051 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.05, for a total value of $8,220,537.55. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 58,451 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,196,757.55. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 150 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.45, for a total transaction of $85,417.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,024,394.75. The trade was a 4.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,258 shares of company stock worth $20,885,067. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mastercard

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,544,675 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $42,503,787,000 after purchasing an additional 365,537 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,267,937 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,725,627,000 after purchasing an additional 912,856 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Mastercard by 4.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,015,557,000 after purchasing an additional 907,184 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,657,792 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,800,202,000 after purchasing an additional 282,739 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Mastercard by 38.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,413,936,000 after purchasing an additional 3,765,378 shares during the period. 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.