Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mastercard (NYSE:MA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Friday.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $713.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Compass Point set a $620.00 price target on Mastercard and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $652.50.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of MA stock opened at $551.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of $495.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.17, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.92. Mastercard has a 1 year low of $465.59 and a 1 year high of $601.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $559.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $568.20.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mastercard will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th were paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $591.00, for a total transaction of $10,202,433.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,294. This trade represents a 35.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $416,000. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 2,085 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,143,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. IFG Advisory LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 2.2% in the first quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 5,395 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,957,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter worth approximately $226,000. Hedge funds and other 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.