Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock Price

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its target price dropped by Morgan Stanley from $654.00 to $644.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 15.07% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on MA. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho upped their price target on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $569.58.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $559.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Mastercard has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $576.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $527.58 and a 200-day moving average of $500.25. The company has a market cap of $513.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mastercard

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MA. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,425,665,000 after purchasing an additional 257,312 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after buying an additional 700,769 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,043,972,000 after buying an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after buying an additional 8,035,099 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,501,814 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,800,836,000 after buying an additional 304,293 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.