BMO Capital Markets Upgrades Mastercard (NYSE:MA) to “Strong-Buy”

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) was upgraded by analysts at BMO Capital Markets to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Compass Point raised Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $620.00 to $735.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Dbs Bank raised Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 target price on Mastercard and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $659.81.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:MA opened at $509.83 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $508.40 and its 200-day moving average is $538.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Mastercard has a 52 week low of $480.50 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The firm has a market cap of $454.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.83.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Mastercard will post 19.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MA. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 820.0% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Robbins Farley raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 50.0% during the third quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Tacita Capital Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.