Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock Gets Price Target Boost from Cantor Fitzgerald

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $695.00 to $765.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 19.81% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on MA. Loop Capital raised their target price on Mastercard from $631.00 to $647.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Mizuho set a $711.00 target price on Mastercard in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Mastercard from $696.00 to $742.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $665.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $702.91.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE MA opened at $638.50 on Friday. Mastercard has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $644.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $586.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $536.21. The stock has a market cap of $559.33 billion, a PE ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The credit services provider reported $5.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $0.14. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.73% and a return on equity of 260.86%. The business had revenue of $9.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 19.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,317 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $620.00, for a total transaction of $2,676,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 35,750 shares in the company, valued at $22,165,000. This trade represents a 10.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,372 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $575.00, for a total transaction of $8,838,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,873,475. This represents a 14.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,420 shares of company stock valued at $22,882,963. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fundsmith LLP acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $639,458,000. Corient Private Wealth LP increased its holdings in Mastercard by 147.2% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 1,682,183 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $863,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001,671 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Mastercard by 295.8% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 860,011 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $441,702,000 after buying an additional 642,724 shares in the last quarter. SEB Asset Management AB bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $293,574,000. Finally, Soroban Capital Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 30.5% in the 1st quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 2,464,499 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,231,412,000 after buying an additional 575,412 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses. The company facilitates electronic payments and provides technology that supports transactions conducted through credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payment products.

In addition to operating its payments network, Mastercard offers services in areas such as payment security, fraud prevention, authentication, cybersecurity, data and analytics, loyalty programs, digital identity and open banking.