Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Hits New 1-Year High Following Dividend Announcement

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $537.00 and last traded at $535.88, with a volume of 769645 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $531.01.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. This is a boost from Mastercard's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. Mastercard's payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $562.88.

Mastercard Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $477.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.33, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $519.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $483.15.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldstein Advisors LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $749,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.9% in the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 2,190 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% in the third quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $690,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the third quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $834,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oldfather Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.6% during the third quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC now owns 827 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently 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.