Oppenheimer Cuts Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Price Target to $588.00

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price target lowered by stock analysts at Oppenheimer from $591.00 to $588.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 11.69% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on MA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $562.76.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.3 %

MA stock traded up $6.51 during trading on Thursday, reaching $526.47. The stock had a trading volume of 806,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,458,692. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $519.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $483.15. The company has a market capitalization of $483.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.82, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard has a 1-year low of $416.53 and a 1-year high of $537.13.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This represents a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mastercard

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. 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.