Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Coverage Initiated at Compass Point

Compass Point started coverage on shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) in a report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $525.00 target price on the credit services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on MA. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $490.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $500.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. William Blair raised shares of Mastercard to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $536.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of Mastercard from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $470.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $510.88.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $476.28 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $456.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $459.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. Mastercard has a 1-year low of $359.77 and a 1-year high of $490.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $442.76 billion, a PE ratio of 37.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 138,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.19, for a total transaction of $62,540,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,152,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,762,504,462.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 138,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.19, for a total transaction of $62,540,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,152,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,762,504,462.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 13,439 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $455.00, for a total transaction of $6,114,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 27,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,423,320. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,167,931 shares of company stock worth $531,284,982. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MA. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. VitalStone Financial LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 60 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

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.