Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Friday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on MA. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price target on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $612.90.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $552.52 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $567.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $548.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Mastercard has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $594.71. The company has a market capitalization of $503.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.02.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 196.87% and a net margin of 45.21%. The firm had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.31 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.86, for a total value of $549,372.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 25,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,630,844.40. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total value of $601,447.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,815.17. This trade represents a 7.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 38,753 shares of company stock worth $20,351,084. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MA. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,421,213,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,022,224,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 65,631.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,508,636,000 after buying an additional 8,213,123 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,238,764,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 38.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,413,936,000 after buying an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.