Brokerages Set Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Price Target at $667.88

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) has earned an average rating of “Buy” from the twenty-eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and six have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $664.40.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MA. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. HSBC upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Macquarie Infrastructure upped their price target on Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $501.07 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $446.86 billion, a PE ratio of 30.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $515.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $543.70. Mastercard has a 1 year low of $465.59 and a 1 year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.82 EPS. Analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.07%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MA. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 820.0% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Robbins Farley lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.