Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.09 EPS

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.09, Briefing.com reports. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.09% and a return on equity of 183.70%. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA traded up $2.48 on Friday, hitting $443.58. 3,711,610 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,507,301. Mastercard has a fifty-two week low of $357.85 and a fifty-two week high of $490.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $413.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s fifty day moving average is $469.57 and its 200 day moving average is $437.74.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.99%.

Insider Activity

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total value of $7,632,649.78. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 12,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,644.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total transaction of $3,736,447.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,672,828.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total value of $7,632,649.78. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 12,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,644.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 583,088 shares of company stock worth $266,873,978. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MA. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $510.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $524.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $493.55.

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.