Robert W. Baird Issues Positive Forecast for Mastercard (NYSE:MA) Stock Price

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) had its price target upped by stock analysts at Robert W. Baird from $660.00 to $680.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 27.49% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on MA. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Mastercard from $656.00 to $629.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen cut Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $631.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $654.58.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $533.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $497.92 and a 200-day moving average of $518.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $471.29 billion, a PE ratio of 30.87, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56. Mastercard has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.41 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.26 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.88% and a return on equity of 212.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.73 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard will post 19.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 4,828 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $525.00, for a total transaction of $2,534,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,625,225. This represents a 22.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Mastercard

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Robinswood Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 820.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, First Pacific Financial increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 113.8% in the first quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 62 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

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.