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

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

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on MA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $655.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $656.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Compass Point upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $620.00 to $735.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $611.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $659.81.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $509.83 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $454.67 billion, a PE ratio of 30.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $508.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $538.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard has a twelve month low of $480.50 and a twelve month high of $601.77.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The business had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.82 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard will post 19.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MA. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,594,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 2,548 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Betterment LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 947 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $532,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 35.8% in the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 677,204 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $380,548,000 after acquiring an additional 178,387 shares during the period. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth about $431,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Mastercard

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.