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MasterCard (MA) Stock Moves -0.33%: What You Should Know

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MasterCard (MA - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $232.52, moving -0.33% from the previous trading session. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.46%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.13%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.63%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the processor of debit and credit card payments had gained 4.15% over the past month. This has outpaced the Business Services sector's gain of 3.44% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.08% in that time.

MA will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.67, up 11.33% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $3.88 billion, up 8.47% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $7.56 per share and revenue of $16.78 billion. These totals would mark changes of +16.49% and +12.24%, respectively, from last year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for MA. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.13% higher. MA is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Investors should also note MA's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 30.85. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 20.36, so we one might conclude that MA is trading at a premium comparatively.

We can also see that MA currently has a PEG ratio of 1.86. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. MA's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.58 as of yesterday's close.

The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 177, which puts it in the bottom 31% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow MA in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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