Raymond James Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Mastercard (NYSE:MA)

Mastercard (NYSE:MA)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Raymond James in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $640.00 price target on the credit services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $614.00. Raymond James’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 13.84% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $575.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $572.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $577.33.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock traded down $3.83 during trading on Friday, hitting $562.18. 1,537,505 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,716,675. Mastercard has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $576.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $527.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $500.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $515.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program 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 reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV grew its position in Mastercard by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 7,476 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,937,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $112,000. NTV Asset Management LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 1,164 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 59.9% during the 4th quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,357 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,241,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC now owns 493 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.