Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Cut to “Hold” at Freedom Broker

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) was downgraded by Freedom Broker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $725.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $620.00. Freedom Broker‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 10.58% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on MA. Bank of America raised their target price on Mastercard from $700.00 to $735.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Mastercard from $665.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $722.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $695.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $704.62.

Mastercard Stock Down 2.5%

NYSE MA opened at $655.61 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $574.32 billion, a PE ratio of 34.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.78. Mastercard has a one year low of $464.52 and a one year high of $681.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $591.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $538.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $9.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.66 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 260.86% and a net margin of 46.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.38 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 19.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $641.00, for a total transaction of $2,767,197.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 35,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,915,750. This represents a 10.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.21, for a total value of $218,377.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,237 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,861,559.77. This represents a 4.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 25,403 shares of company stock worth $15,428,736 over the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Everest Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 21.3% during the third quarter. Everest Financial Group LLC now owns 10,316 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,813 shares during the period. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 19.2% in the third quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. now owns 202,015 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $111,667,000 after purchasing an additional 32,515 shares during the last quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management lifted its stake in Mastercard by 5.3% in the third quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 2,170 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,197,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Van Strum & Towne Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 10.9% in the third quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. now owns 3,743 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,064,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Commons Capital LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 17.7% in the third quarter. Commons Capital LLC now owns 632 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Truist raised its price target to $735 from $674 and reiterated a Buy rating, implying further upside from the price cited in the report. Truist raises Mastercard price target
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is expanding acceptance and payment options through new card offerings with Sampath Bank in Sri Lanka and Samsung Pay in Morocco. These partnerships could support wider use of its network, though their near-term financial contribution is unclear. Sampath Bank and Mastercard card partnership Mastercard and Samsung Pay in Morocco
• Neutral Sentiment: The CFO sold about $2.77 million of Mastercard shares. Insider sales can draw investor attention, but the reports provide no indication that the sale reflects a change in the company’s outlook; two articles appear to report the same transaction. Mastercard CFO stock sale
• Negative Sentiment: Visa and Mastercard face an additional £5 billion in collective claims over card fees, adding to legal and regulatory uncertainty around the companies’ fee practices. Additional card-fee claims against Visa and Mastercard
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation coverage cautions that Mastercard’s recent rally has largely reflected a higher earnings multiple, with analyst profit estimates barely changing after its Q3 report. That may leave the stock more vulnerable if growth or sentiment disappoints; analyst views remain divided, with some targets above the market and one cited Hold rating at $535. Mastercard valuation after its rally Analyst views on Mastercard after Q3

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, merchants, financial institutions, businesses and governments. Its network supports electronic payments, including transactions made with Mastercard-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards, as well as digital payment methods.

The company provides technology for authorizing, clearing and settling transactions. It also offers services related to cybersecurity, identity verification, data analytics, fraud prevention and payment consulting.