Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Receives $606.11 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-four have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $606.11.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MA shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,179,138 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $40,640,219,000 after purchasing an additional 377,302 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Mastercard by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $17,425,665,000 after purchasing an additional 257,312 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,267,937 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $11,725,627,000 after buying an additional 912,856 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,657,792 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $9,800,202,000 after buying an additional 282,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth $6,022,224,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MA traded up $8.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $543.82. 2,758,521 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,377,777. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The business's 50 day moving average is $547.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $524.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $495.81 billion, a PE ratio of 39.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

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

Mastercard Company Profile

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.