Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Macquarie Analyst Says

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its target price raised by equities researchers at Macquarie from $655.00 to $660.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Macquarie’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 19.44% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $654.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Compass Point set a $620.00 price target on shares of Mastercard and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $647.89.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $552.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $499.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.26, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $576.43 and its 200 day moving average is $568.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. Mastercard has a 52-week low of $465.59 and a 52-week high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. Mastercard’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total value of $10,202,433.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,459,294. This trade represents a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at approximately $11,421,213,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 55,868.1% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,421,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,541,880,000 after acquiring an additional 13,397,168 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,725,317,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $4,238,764,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $7,413,936,000 after acquiring an additional 3,765,378 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Company Profile

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.