Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $661.90 and last traded at $661.90, with a volume of 9,214 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $647.18.

Key Mastercard News

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $701.00 price target (up from $674.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Mastercard from $722.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $632.00 target price (up from $609.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Truist Financial raised their target price on Mastercard from $674.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore boosted their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $620.00 in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $704.00.

Mastercard Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business’s 50 day moving average is $591.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $538.51.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 18.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $590.21, for a total transaction of $218,377.70. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,237 shares in the company, valued at $4,861,559.77. This represents a 4.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Sachin Mehra sold 3,266 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $584.00, for a total value of $1,907,344.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 36,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,403,600. This represents a 8.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,403 shares of company stock valued at $15,428,736. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MA. Everest Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Everest Financial Group LLC now owns 10,316 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,813 shares during the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. raised its stake in Mastercard by 19.2% during the third quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. now owns 202,015 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $111,667,000 after buying an additional 32,515 shares during the last quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management raised its stake in Mastercard by 5.3% during the third quarter. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management now owns 2,170 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,197,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Van Strum & Towne Inc. lifted its holdings 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 holdings 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

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.