Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) to Issue Dividend Increase - $0.76 Per Share

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 17th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of 0.76 per share by the credit services provider on Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. This is a boost from Mastercard's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66.

Mastercard has increased its dividend payment by an average of 12.5% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 12 years. Mastercard has a payout ratio of 16.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Mastercard to earn $16.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.2%.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA traded up $0.70 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $531.01. 3,964,192 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,462,280. Mastercard has a 52 week low of $416.53 and a 52 week high of $536.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $487.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The business's fifty day moving average price is $518.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $482.89.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. Mastercard's revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.39 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Mastercard will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer started coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $591.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. BNP Paribas downgraded Mastercard from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $470.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $559.28.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. This represents a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.