Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Trading Up 0.2% – Time to Buy?

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) shares shot up 0.2% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $515.99 and last traded at $514.70. 620,297 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 2,433,066 shares. The stock had previously closed at $513.76.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Mastercard from $531.00 to $536.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. William Blair upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $524.64.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $480.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $486.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $464.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.51 by $0.08. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. The company had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.85 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.99%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,440,885.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 119,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.46, for a total transaction of $55,746,740.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 92,033,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,113,923,465.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 340,809 shares of company stock worth $159,610,703 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Violich Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 3.7% in the third quarter. Violich Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,535 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,746,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter worth $489,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 721 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 493 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 58,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $29,091,000 after purchasing an additional 8,997 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Mastercard

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.