Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) have been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the twenty-nine brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-one have issued a buy recommendation and five have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $657.48.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Compass Point set a $620.00 price target on shares of Mastercard and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 14th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $579.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $520.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $555.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $565.67. Mastercard has a 52-week low of $465.59 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.28% and a return on equity of 202.03%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 22.25%.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth $88,000. AIA Group Ltd grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 48.0% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 43,495 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $24,740,000 after purchasing an additional 14,108 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% in the third quarter. Peterson Wealth Management now owns 8,810 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,011,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Saranac Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth about $8,160,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Mastercard by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 17,153 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,759,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.