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

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price target increased by stock analysts at Citigroup from $675.00 to $800.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Citigroup‘s price target points to a potential upside of 21.12% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on MA. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $725.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $668.00 to $731.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $679.00 to $681.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $701.00 price target (up from $674.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $709.45.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:MA traded up $4.70 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $660.51. The company had a trading volume of 1,096,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,508,146. Mastercard has a 1-year low of $464.52 and a 1-year high of $681.99. The stock has a market cap of $578.61 billion, a PE ratio of 34.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $594.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $539.76.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 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 analysts’ expectations of $9.66 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 260.86% and a net margin of 46.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.38 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 20.00 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Sachin Mehra sold 3,266 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $584.00, for a total transaction of $1,907,344.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 36,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,403,600. The trade was a 8.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $641.00, for a total value of $2,767,197.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 35,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,915,750. This trade represents a 10.77% 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 valued at $15,428,736 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MA. Trustmark Bank Trust Department boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Trustmark Bank Trust Department now owns 1,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. Stelac Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,442,000. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 17.4% during the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 860,048 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $474,291,000 after acquiring an additional 127,254 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 5.9% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 17,447 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,621,000 after acquiring an additional 975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M. Kulyk & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.8% during the third quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 16,692 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,205,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Mastercard

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Sage is developing small-business financial accounts with debit-card, payment and reconciliation features built into its software. Adyen will provide infrastructure for the initial rollout in France, while Mastercard will power the debit cards—an opportunity to extend its network into Sage’s small-business customer base. Sage partners with Adyen and Mastercard
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard is adding business-banking partnerships: BMO launched a Canadian business credit card with Mastercard, and Citizens Treasury Intelligence went live with Trovata using Mastercard technology. These deals could support reach in commercial cards and corporate treasury services. Mastercard expands its business banking reach
• Neutral Sentiment: A fund with $4.5 billion in U.S. equities increased its Mastercard position by 1,884% in the third quarter. This may signal institutional interest, though the reported activity is backward-looking and does not establish a near-term trading catalyst. Fund increases Mastercard stake

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.