Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock Price Down 0.5% - Here's Why

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 0.5% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $516.00 and last traded at $518.51. 907,051 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 1,751,365 shares. The stock had previously closed at $521.36.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $562.76.

Mastercard Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $523.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $490.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company has a market cap of $469.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.71, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. Mastercard's revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. This is a positive change from Mastercard's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MA. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 4.0% in the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 47,635 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $21,015,000 after acquiring an additional 1,842 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 3.3% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 15,468 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $6,824,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 3.4% in the second quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 2,517 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,111,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 12,522.2% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 55,790 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 55,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cross Staff Investments Inc lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 3,190 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,407,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is 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.