Morgan Stanley Boosts Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Price Target to $654.00

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Free Report) had its target price raised by Morgan Stanley from $564.00 to $654.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the credit services provider's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on MA. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays upped their target price on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Compass Point assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $525.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $591.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $562.88.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA traded down $11.05 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $519.96. 3,113,099 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,465,294. The stock 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 business's fifty day moving average is $518.69 and its 200-day moving average is $482.89. Mastercard has a one year low of $416.53 and a one year high of $537.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

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

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. This is a boost from Mastercard's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.97%.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,971,020,000 after buying an additional 8,035,099 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,846,187,000 after buying an additional 1,965,782 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $10,545,139,000 after buying an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $9,043,972,000 after buying an additional 453,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 52.8% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $573,017,000 after buying an additional 409,334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

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.