Mizuho Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Mastercard (NYSE:MA)

Mastercard (NYSE:MA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by research analysts at Mizuho in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $480.00 target price on the credit services provider’s stock. Mizuho’s target price points to a potential downside of 0.33% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on MA. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $510.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, February 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $479.62.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $481.57 on Wednesday. Mastercard has a 12-month low of $355.82 and a 12-month high of $490.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The company has a market cap of $449.25 billion, a PE ratio of 40.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $464.17 and a 200 day moving average of $426.46.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 191.22% and a net margin of 44.60%. The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard will post 14.35 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $11.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total transaction of $7,632,649.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 12,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,644.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Mastercard news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 8,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.26, for a total transaction of $3,829,314.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,003,217.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 12,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,832,644.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,628 shares of company stock valued at $23,309,067 in the last three months. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mastercard

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $9,453,000. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 874 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $2,692,000. Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $7,464,000. Finally, Walden Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $595,000. 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.