Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.76 Per Share

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 17th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of 0.76 per share by the credit services provider on Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66.

Mastercard has increased its dividend by an average of 12.5% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 12 consecutive years. Mastercard has a payout ratio of 16.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Mastercard to earn $16.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.2%.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $531.01 on Wednesday. Mastercard has a one year low of $416.53 and a one year high of $536.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $487.38 billion, a PE ratio of 40.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $518.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $482.89.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.39 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Mastercard from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $470.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $562.88.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.