Mastercard (NYSE:MA) PT Lowered to $478.00 at Mizuho

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price target trimmed by Mizuho from $480.00 to $478.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the credit services provider’s stock.

MA has been the topic of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Susquehanna reiterated a positive rating and set a $535.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer reissued an outperform rating and issued a $510.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Raymond James lifted their price target on Mastercard from $452.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $493.55.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.6 %

MA opened at $443.58 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $413.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Mastercard has a 12 month low of $357.85 and a 12 month high of $490.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $469.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $438.31.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.34 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 183.70% and a net margin of 46.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 14.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 116,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $445.04, for a total transaction of $51,624,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,651,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,013,698,112.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total transaction of $3,736,447.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,640 shares in the company, valued at $22,672,828.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 116,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $445.04, for a total value of $51,624,640.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,651,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,013,698,112.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 583,088 shares of company stock worth $266,873,978 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management raised its position in Mastercard by 87.4% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 536 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 3,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the period. Everett Harris & Co. CA raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 49,539 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $21,129,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 12,124 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,171,000 after acquiring an additional 2,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its position in Mastercard by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 490 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.