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MasterCard (MA) Stock Moves 0.23%: What You Should Know

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MasterCard (MA - Free Report) closed at $275.72 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.23% move from the prior day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0% on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.19%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.07%.

Coming into today, shares of the processor of debit and credit card payments had lost 2.45% in the past month. In that same time, the Business Services sector lost 0.6%, while the S&P 500 gained 4.25%.

MA will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect MA to post earnings of $2.01 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 12.92%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $4.42 billion, up 13.5% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $7.61 per share and revenue of $16.81 billion. These totals would mark changes of +17.26% and +12.44%, respectively, from last year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for MA. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

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 0.02% 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 36.16. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 23.88.

We can also see that MA currently has a PEG ratio of 2.17. 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. The Financial Transaction Services industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.07 as of yesterday's close.

The Financial Transaction Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 64, putting it in the top 25% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. 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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