Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11, Zacks reports. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%.

Mastercard Trading Up 4.9 %

Shares of NYSE:MA traded up $26.92 during trading on Thursday, reaching $575.72. 2,533,256 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,591,403. The firm has a market capitalization of $528.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. The business's fifty day moving average is $526.58 and its 200-day moving average is $499.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $576.56.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Mastercard's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard's payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on MA shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $572.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $575.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Macquarie lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $567.29.

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.

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