Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $661.90 and last traded at $661.90, with a volume of 9,214 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $647.18.

Mastercard News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard’s expansion of Samsung Pay in Morocco could increase access to digital payments and support transaction growth in the market. Samsung Pay expansion in Morocco
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and Safwa Islamic Bank launched the Shiffa Card, adding a new product to the company’s partnership and payments portfolio. Shiffa Card launch
• Positive Sentiment: A recent analyst upgrade helped lift the stock in the prior session, offering a supportive signal for sentiment. Analyst upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarterly results showed revenue up 14% year over year to $9.81 billion and EPS of $5.31, both ahead of consensus estimates. This provides a strong operating backdrop, though the results were released last week. Third-quarter results
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Ling Hai sold shares in transactions under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Insider selling can weigh on sentiment, but the planned nature of the sales makes them a less direct signal about his current outlook. CFO share sale

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $632.00 target price (up from $609.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Mastercard from $685.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. UBS Group increased their target price on Mastercard from $670.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Evercore raised their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $620.00 in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $631.00 to $647.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $702.91.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.9%

The company has a market cap of $577.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $589.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $537.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $9.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.66 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 260.86% and a net margin of 46.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.20%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Sachin Mehra sold 7,444 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.13, for a total value of $4,296,155.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 40,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,613,851.08. This represents a 15.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ling Hai sold 4,318 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $642.43, for a total transaction of $2,774,012.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 35,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,966,872.50. This represents a 10.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,403 shares of company stock valued at $15,428,736. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mastercard

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Avion Wealth grew its holdings in Mastercard by 13.9% during the third quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 254 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $140,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Paragon Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the third quarter worth about $261,000. M Holdings Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Mastercard in the third quarter worth about $3,552,000. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 2,603 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,058 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,547,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.