MA - Mastercard Incorporated
| Previous Close | 235.87 |
| Open | 234.84 |
| Bid | 0.00 x 1100 |
| Ask | 231.00 x 900 |
| Day's Range | 230.68 - 236.00 |
| 52 Week Range | 167.94 - 237.08 |
| Volume | 3,709,381 |
| Avg. Volume | 3,701,785 |
| Market Cap | 236.739B |
| Beta (3Y Monthly) | 1.01 |
| PE Ratio (TTM) | 41.21 |
| EPS (TTM) | 5.60 |
| Earnings Date | Apr 30, 2019 - May 6, 2019 |
| Forward Dividend & Yield | 1.32 (0.56%) |
| Ex-Dividend Date | 2019-04-08 |
| 1y Target Est | 240.65 |
- Barrons.com•2 days ago
Tesla the Battery Maker Could Prosper
We have gained increased confidence in Mastercard’s ability to 1) penetrate business-to business payments, 2) deliver faster earning growth versus Visa, and 3) make successful investments in technologies that support its long-term growth. Marriott’s event could not have come at a better time, as the company has faced a number of challenges recently (integration-related headwinds, labor strikes, the data breach, etc.).
- Motley Fool•2 days ago
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- Investing.com•3 days ago
Mastercard Rises 3%
Investing.com - Mastercard (NYSE:MA) rose by 3.04% to trade at $236.81 by 14:24 (18:24 GMT) on Thursday on the NYSE exchange.
- Zacks•3 days ago
First Data Launches AI-Powered Digital Commerce Solution
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- Investor's Business Daily•4 days ago
Unconventional Wisdom: Why Buying Great Stocks On A Gap-Up Is Sound Investing Strategy
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- InvestorPlace•4 days ago
EBIX Stock Is Risky at Best but Still Worth a Good Hard Look
Insurance data company Ebix (NASDAQ:EBIX) has been evolving and increasingly, Ebix stock has started a slow march up. It's a pleasant surprise as I first ran into this company almost a decade ago, when I was still at ZDNet.At the time they were buying a health care information company called A.D.A.M., for $66 million. I recently found my story on the Ebix Web site.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsSince then, Ebix has ridden a lot of ups and downs. The stock traded as low as $9.26 per share in 2012. But it found its footing and rose to as much as $83 per share last year. It opens for trade March 12 at about $51.30 per share.Ebix is worth looking at again because it's no longer the company it was. It's a broader company, with interests in insurance as well as health care. It is also much more focused on India, which is where CEO Robin Raina hails from.That's the real story. * Top 7 Service Sector Stocks That Will Pay You to Own Them Payment Innovation and Ebix StockTransaction processing has long been an American lake, dominated by Visa (NYSE:V), MasterCard (NYSE:MA), and their networks of processing partners, many of which have operations in Atlanta, where Ebix is based in the suburban town of John's Creek.But India's government recently pushed through a powerful transaction processing innovation, a Unified Payments Interface that has made India the innovation center of the global payments industry.Not only did India create a low-cost payment infrastructure, it also pushed people to use it, banning high-denomination bills to fight tax evasion and pushing commerce into the new system.The rise of low-cost digital payments has boosted Alibaba Group Holding (NASDAQ:BABA), Tencent Holding (OTCMKTS:TCEHY) and even American companies like Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), all of which have taken advantage of the new infrastructure, at the expense of banks and traditional processors.This is what Ebix is tapping into. India Moves and Ebix StockEbix' market cap is barely $1.5 billion, but U.S. dollars go a long way in India.The company has made 11 deals in India in just 14 months, all in various areas of ecommerce infrastructure. The purchases cost about $500 million. Raina wants to invest another $500 million this year, and take what had been the remittance system ItzCash, now renamed EbixCash, public.Raina's latest deal, announced March 11, is a proposal to buy Yatra Online (NASDAQ:YTRA), the ticketing firm behind Yatra.com, an Indian rival to Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE) or Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:BKNG).The company had already bought 80% of Zillious, another online travel booker. The plan is to make Yatra part of EbixCash, then take the whole thing public.On March 1, Ebix announced its revenue for 2018 was up 37% to $497.8 million and a few days later it announced plans to be at a run rate of $750 million by the end of this year. The country's footprint in India is large enough for it to sponsor one of the country's leading business conferences and host the country's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. The Bottom Line on Ebix StockIndia is one of the world's fastest growing economies, and electronic transactions, thanks to government help, are one of the fastest-growing parts of that economy.Ebix has transformed itself, in barely a year, from a small American company focused on health payments into a real competitor inside this enormous opportunity.It has taken real risks to do this, with long-term debt of $274 million and a revolving line of credit worth another $424 million. Its operating cash flow, $89.8 million last year, can hardly keep up.Ebix is all-in on India and has made itself a speculative stock in the process. But speculating on Ebix stock is worthwhile, and if you want that kind of international exposure, here it is.Dana Blankenhorn is a financial and technology journalist. He is the author of a new mystery thriller, The Reluctant Detective Finds Her Family, available now at the Amazon Kindle store. Write him at danablankenhorn@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @danablankenhorn. As of this writing he owned no shares in companies mentioned in this article. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 7 Financial Stocks to Invest In Today * 7 Single-Digit P/E Stocks With Massive Upside * 5 Chip Stocks on the Rise Compare Brokers The post EBIX Stock Is Risky at Best but Still Worth a Good Hard Look appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- Zacks•6 days ago
MasterCard (MA) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know
MasterCard (MA) closed at $230.39 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.34% move from the prior day.
- InvestorPlace•6 days ago
Mastercard Stock Still Has Plenty of Juice Left in the Tank
Mastercard (NYSE:MA) has a reputation for seasoned readers as a well-known credit card company. Younger readers will understand the brand -- and Mastercard stock -- in an entirely different way.Source: Hakan Dahlstrom via Flickr (Modified)Fundamentally, MA is payment processing company. It acts as a middle man between merchants and customers and financial institutions. A bank issues a credit or debit card to a customer that is supported by MasterCard.When the customer uses that card, MA secures the transaction while the bank awaits payment.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsOn the other side of the transaction, Mastercard is the middle man between the merchant and the customer. MA gets a fee from the merchant and a fee from the bank for its services.This has been a good business, especially since U.S. consumers drive about 70% of the economy. MA stock wins as consumers spend more, and more consumers enter the market.The other strength Mastercard stock has is that it is backed by a global brand. MA operates in 210 countries worldwide and that kind of brand recognition is a great asset as new financial technology (fintech) companies pop up in various countries trying to take some business from larger global players. * The 10 Best Stocks to Buy for the Bull Market's Anniversary One of the big changes in the financial sector recently has been the growth digital payments and everything that comes along with that.We've seen the massive change that e-commerce has brought to retail. Now that change is happening in the financial sector. It has taken a while because there are far more regulations and protocols to sort out than there are on the retail side.And you don't have to imagine the growth of fintech, because if you understand how retailers have changed since e-commerce has become commonplace, simply remember that all those retail transactions are being done electronically, mostly with credit cards.And it's the volume of transactions that really matter to MA. Each transaction means a commission for MA. And that's ultimately a big deal for Mastercard stock. Bottom Line on Mastercard StockHowever, MA stock has much more going on than simply acting as a middle man for transactions. All this online activity means there's a huge amount of financial risk if financial clients, merchants or customers get hacked.These cybersecurity resources are a significant part of MA's value-added business. Because of its size and breadth, the company has some of the best security in place for itself and its customers. It's also well capitalized, so if there's a breach, it's not going to throw up its hands and shut down the business.MA is in fintech growth mode right now, with acquisitions of smaller players coming quickly. It's the main reason Mastercard stock is trading more like a tech stock than a financial stock.Just this week it announced it is moving forward with the purchase of Transfast, a peer-to-peer (P2P) cross-border payments provider that operates in 125 countries and integrates with 300+ banks. P2P is a huge new market and this announcement shows that MA is staying ahead of the curve in this dynamic space.All this and more reinforces why my Portfolio Grader has MA stock as an A-rated stock right now. And its 26% 12-month return is just a taste of what's to come.Louis Navellier is a renowned growth investor. He is the editor of four investing newsletters: Growth Investor, Breakthrough Stocks, Accelerated Profits and Platinum Growth. His most popular service, Growth Investor, has a track record of beating the market 3:1 over the last 14 years. He uses a combination of quantitative and fundamental analysis to identify market-beating stocks. Mr. Navellier has made his proven formula accessible to investors via his free, online stock rating tool, PortfolioGrader.com. Louis Navellier may hold some of the aforementioned securities in one or more of his newsletters. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 5 of the Best Stocks to Buy Under $10 * 7 Single-Digit P/E Stocks With Massive Upside * 7 Best Quantum Computing Stocks Trading Today Compare Brokers The post Mastercard Stock Still Has Plenty of Juice Left in the Tank appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- Motley Fool•8 days ago
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- Zacks•9 days ago
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- InvestorPlace•9 days ago
MasterCard Stock Is A Buy, But Is It A Better Buy Than Its Card Peers?
Mastercard's (NYSE:MA) battle with long-time archrival Visa (NYSE:V) continues, with a win in the bidding for fintech firm Transfast. Coming in the wake of losing out in an effort to purchase a similar company, cross-border payments network provider Earthport, MA stock investors can be confident the payments processor is doing all it can to remain competitive.Both Mastercard and Visa have seen their stocks rise as the world moves to cashless economies. With the evolution to digital money, the entire payments industry continues to benefit from double-digit profit growth.At the same time, it makes a decision to invest in MA stock or V shares more than a simple buy-or-sell question. In this industry, investors should not ask if they should buy Mastercard stock; they should find out if it or one of its peers would bring more profit?InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips MasterCard Keeps Up Yet Falls BehindWith MasterCard buying Transfast and Visa presumably winning the bidding war to acquire Earthport, both firms get better access to bank accounts and ACH networks globally. Perhaps more importantly, both card processors expand their presence in peer-to-peer money transactions.So, as the world more toward a cashless society, the MA-Visa rivalry gets more heated. In nearly all cases, most merchants accept both types of cards. Yes, Costco (NASDAQ:COST) only accepts Visa, but such exclusive instances are rare. * 7 Winning High-Yield Dividend Stocks With Payouts Over 5% However, despite this parity, Visa dominates in terms of gross dollar volume, which covers all types of transactions. As of the third quarter of 2018, Visa controlled 61.5% of the market. This compares to only 25.2% for MA, and 11.1% for American Express (NYSE:AXP). Mastercard Benefits From Fintech GrowthHowever, where Mastercard lags in credit cards, it has compensated with its moves into debit cards and e-commerce. Thankfully for Mastercard stock bulls, these areas will see the most near-term growth in the fintech space.The benefit -- and the problem -- with this fintech sector is that every equity in the industry would probably bring profits. Even Discover Financial (NYSE:DFS), which holds only 2.2% of the market, should see double-digit profit growth this year. One could make an argument that MA stock would deliver higher returns than Discover. However, whether it can outperform its other peers is the bigger question. Should I Buy MA Stock?The MA stock price hovers near its 52-week high of about $228 per share. Still, it struggles to stand out even as it posts stellar numbers. In both profit and valuation, Mastercard and Visa appear similar. Mastercard stock analysts forecast profit increases of 16.3% this year and 18.4% in 2020. This barely exceeds the 15.4% rate for 2019 and 15.8% 2020 growth predicted for Visa. Moreover, the forward price-to-earnings (PE) ratio slightly exceeds that of Visa, 25.5 vs. 24.8. * 7 Top Stocks to Buy From Goldman Sachs' Secret Portfolio I like Mastercard stock better now than last year when I panned it for its high multiple and lower profit growth. Achieving near parity with Visa has changed the value proposition. However, it has not made MA stock more of a bargain than Visa.Moreover, if we evaluate these stocks purely on valuation, both American Express and Discover trade at single-digit PE ratios. Both have grown profits more slowly than Mastercard. However, with American Express set to overtake Mastercard as the second-largest processor of credit cards, AXP stock could become the equity of choice in this space. Bottom Line on Mastercard StockAlthough Mastercard stock remains a buy, the fintech sector appears to offer better options. The purchase of Transfast should enhance Mastercard's ability to conduct transactions. However, it continues to struggle to differentiate itself from Visa even as Visa achieves increasing dominance with credit card transactions.MA stock will continue to benefit from double-digit profit growth for the foreseeable future. Also, even though its 25.5 PE ratio exceeds its peers, most analysts would not call Mastercard stock "overpriced." Still, for investors who intend to pursue a higher return, they might see a larger profit by buying AXP stock.As of this writing, Will Healy did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned stocks. You can follow Will on Twitter at @HealyWriting. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 15 Stocks Sitting on Huge Piles of Cash * The 10 Best Stocks to Buy for the Bull Market's Anniversary * 7 Dividend Stocks With Big Yields Compare Brokers The post MasterCard Stock Is A Buy, But Is It A Better Buy Than Its Card Peers? appeared first on InvestorPlace.
Reuters•10 days agoU.S. considers sanctions to restrict Visa, Mastercard in Venezuela: official
The United States is considering imposing financial sanctions that could prohibit Visa Inc , Mastercard Inc and other financial institutions from processing transactions in Venezuela, a senior Trump administration official said on Thursday. The move, which has not been finalized, would represent another step in tightening the financial noose on the government of President Nicolas Maduro and his supporters. The sanctions would be targeted at the elite and groups loyal to Maduro, including members of the military, armed gangs and Cubans operating in Venezuela, while aiming to spare ordinary Venezuelans.
- Reuters•10 days ago
U.S. acts to keep Citgo operating in face of Venezuela sanctions
The U.S. Treasury on Thursday gave U.S. refiner Citgo Petroleum Corp a further 18 months to buy crude and make debt payments while under sanctions against its parent, Venezuelan state-run energy firm Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). The United States levied sanctions in January on PDVSA and Venezuela aimed at the removal of socialist President Nicolas Maduro, whom the United States and about 50 other countries no longer recognize as the country's legitimate leader. The sanctions prohibited Citgo and other companies from making payments for oil revenue directly to Venezuela, but have limited the Houston-based refiner's ability to refinance debt.
- Reuters•10 days ago
U.S. considers sanctions to restrict Visa, Mastercard in Venezuela - official
By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is considering imposing financial sanctions that could prohibit Visa Inc , Mastercard Inc and other financial institutions from processing transactions ...
- Benzinga•10 days ago
Wedbush Incrementally Bullish On MasterCard, Visa
Wedbush is bullish on Visa Inc (NYSE: V ) and Mastercard Inc (NYSE: MA ) after the credit card networks' quarterly reports. The Analyst Wedbush's Moshe Katri maintained an Outperform on Visa with a ...
- Barrons.com•10 days ago
Mastercard and Visa’s Growth Story Is Nowhere Near Over, Analyst Says
The companies can deliver annual growth of 10% to 15% in credit-card revenue and 20% growth in adjusted earnings per share over the next few years, Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri says.
- Bloomberg•10 days ago
U.S. Weighs Curbs on Venezuela Transaction Processing
If the Trump administration decides to move forward, such sanctions could prohibit U.S. companies from engaging with entities that recognize Maduro as the president of Venezuela. U.S. and other international firms use local institutions to process transactions, and the majority of the local financial institutions are state-owned enterprises.
- MarketWatch•10 days ago
Visa's stock rallies after Wedbush boosts price target
Shares of Visa Inc. rose 1.2% in afternoon trade Thursday, after Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri got a little more bullish on the credit card and payments company, citing a "host" of growth and scale catalysts. Katri reiterated his outperform rating while raising his price target to $162 from $150. The catalysts he expects include the "disintermediation of cash/checks by electronic payments," increasing revenue opportunities from European regulations, "hyper-growth" in mobile payments, networks' increased dominance in the payments ecosystem and automatic clearing house-related revenue growth opportunities. Katri also reiterated his outperform rating Mastercard Inc. and listed his stock price target to $235 from $220. The stock edged up 0.6%. Over the past 12 months, Visa shares have soared 25.8%, Mastercard shares have run up 27.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has advanced 3.8%.
- InvestorPlace•10 days ago
Is Visa Stock Worth a Look After Setting a New All-Time High?
Through thick and thin, the financial technology sector remains in favor on Wall Street. Companies like Visa (NYSE:V), Mastercard (NYSE:MA) and Square (NYSE:SQ) rarely come under fire from negative outlooks, so they make for strong bets on the upside potential of equity markets.Source: Kārlis Dambrāns via FlickrFintech offers the best of both words in the financial sector: They are prone to rallies and not considered dead money like bank stocks. When it comes to Visa stock specifically, it rallies similar to the Nasdaq Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) and outperforms the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA:XLF).In fact, yesterday, it set a new all-time high while the S&P 500 is still struggling to breach last year's neckline battle zones. Clearly, investors want to own more Visa stock and MasterCard than most other sectors.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading TipsSo is it too late to buy V stock? The answer to this varies from one investor to another and depends mostly on time frames. How to Approach Visa Stock HereThose who want to invest in it and own the shares for the long term, the simple answer is that it's not too late to own it. Over the span of years, I don't need to be surgical with my entry points. If the stock market is higher later, then so is Visa. * The 10 Best Stocks to Buy for the Bull Market's Anniversary For that purpose, even though V stockis at all-time highs, it is not expensive. It's cheaper than MA and sells at a trailing price-to-earnings ratio of 34. While this is not dirt cheap, since it's almost double that of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), it's not bloated either. So owning shares here for the long term is not likely to be a major financial debacle. There is not a lot of froth to lose so the downside risk should be limitedShort term, chasing a runaway stock like this at all-time highs is not ideal. It leaves the buyers' portfolios vulnerable to short-term dips. But then again, here the matter of intentions makes a difference.For those who are looking to trade Visa stock and not necessarily be in it for the long-term investment, then going long Visa stock here would be a tactical trade. The idea is to buy high and sell higher. But for that, we need precise levels to mark the stop loss points. Bottom Line on V StockTo understand the support levels we need to know how the rally up to here unfolded. V stock is now 25% off its December lows. But the breakout really started from $140 per share on Feb. 1 and after its earnings report. That level was a neckline with $146 per share as the target. So those are two major lines of support for the mid-term.More recently, a secondary pivot level developed around $145 per share. The bears tried to break on Mar. 8, but the bulls prevailed so that now becomes an important level to hold. If it fails in the near term, it would target support at $140. * 7 Inexpensive, High-Dividend ETFs to Buy On the lower time frame charts, there is a shorter-term recent level of contention at $149.70. This served as the floor for the recent poke to new all-time highs. So by default, this becomes the first level of support and if fails, it should also be the stop loss trigger for momentum traders. This does not affect those who are in the stock for the long haul.There is also another micro support zone between $151 and $152 per share that is an even tighter stop loss levels for momentum traders. Where I stop myself out depends on my own level of risk tolerance. Click to EnlargeThe first stop, however, remains in my overall thesis on Visa stock and my goals for the trade. I need to know if I am trying to trade it or invest in it. It is also important that if I am in it for a trade that I don't turn it into an investment.Nicolas Chahine is the managing director of SellSpreads.com. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. You can follow him as @racernic on Twitter and Stocktwits. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 15 Stocks Sitting on Huge Piles of Cash * The 10 Best Stocks to Buy for the Bull Market's Anniversary * 7 Dividend Stocks With Big Yields Compare Brokers The post Is Visa Stock Worth a Look After Setting a New All-Time High? appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- InvestorPlace•10 days ago
The Visa Stock Upside Is Small and Getting Smaller
Market correction. What market correction? For Visa (NYSE:V), it's as though the October drop never happened. Visa stock is already up 25% from its December bottom and has hit new all-time highs.Source: Kārlis Dambrāns via FlickrVisa enjoyed a modest pop on its most recent earnings report. That release showed EPS ahead of expectations by a few cents, along with a revenue beat.But the big driver for the stock has simply been the improving economic outlook and hopes for higher earnings as Visa raises merchant fees yet again. It's strategy may be about to run into problems, however.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips What's Going on with Kroger?The first item of concern is that Kroger (NYSE:KR) is expanding its fight with Visa. Last August, Kroger stopped accepting Visa cards at nearly two dozen of its California stores citing high fees. It stepped up its criticism dramatically earlier this month. * 15 Stocks Sitting on Huge Piles of Cash Kroger's Smith's Food & Drug Store division will stop accepting Visa cards next month. Smith's operates 142 food stores and 108 gas stations predominately in the Rocky Mountain states."While no other Kroger banners are presently affected by this announcement, Kroger continues to explore options to reduce the cost of accepting credit cards in order to keep prices low for customers," Kroger said in a statement.Mike Schlotman, Kroger's Executive Vice President and CFO elaborated:"Visa has been misusing its position and charging retailers excessive fees for a long time […] They conceal from customers what Visa and its banks charge retailers to accept Visa credit cards. At Smith's, Visa's credit card fees are higher than any other credit card brand that we accept. Visa's excessive fees and unfairness cannot continue to go unchecked."Smith's will keep accepting all rival cards from American Express (NYSE:AXP), Discover (NYSE:DFS), and Mastercard (NYSE:MA), along with, interestingly enough, Visa debit cards. Most Visa bulls have dismissed this move as merely sour grapes from a struggling grocery chain. A Sign of Trouble to Come?As it is, credit card companies often earn higher margins on a customer's grocery purchase than the grocery store itself. While it's easy to blame Kroger, they face a challenging situation.Mastercard and Visa keep hiking their fees, taking advantage of a near monopoly situation. Meanwhile, grocery stores face intense competition, with more coming from the likes of Aldi and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) every year.Over time, as retail gets more challenging, payment fees are likely to come down. As it is, Mastercard and Visa routinely get sued and face regulatory pressure from politicians for charging high fees. See the multi-billion dollar settlement that Visa, Mastercard, and certain banks just had to pay out.Visa has enjoyed a huge run in profitability since its IPO in significant part since it keeps taking a bigger and bigger portion of the pie in each retail transaction. But this can't go on forever. For one thing, retailers are going bust left and right. Kroger's may be an isolated move now, but at some point they'll put up a joint front to fight back against high fees.Additionally, technology will offer more and more ways to keep fees competitive. Sure, Visa and Mastercard are easy and secure ways to pay. But retailers, with the right incentives, should be able to move more transactions to competing smartphone-based channels. I don't see Visa and Mastercard being displaced anytime soon (the tech isn't moving that fast), but if Visa tries to stick it to the retailers too much, it will encourage faster adoption of substitute options. Visa Stock: How Much Should You Pay?What's the right price for Visa stock? That depends on what you think a proper P/E ratio for the firm is. And that, it appears, very much depends on what part of the economic cycle we're in.Between 2010 and 2012, Visa stock consistently traded under 20x trailing earnings. From 2013 to 2015, it generally trafficked in the 25x to 30x range. From 2016 to 2018, things got frothy, with Visa stock consistently over 30x earnings and moving over 40x for a time.So, today's 33x P/E ratio could be viewed as a decent correction to where it was over the past couple years. That said, I think there's still a lot of optimism baked in at current prices. I doubt Visa stock is going back under 20x earnings anytime soon, more market participants have discovered how great a company Visa is. But 25x earnings is certainly a realistic target when the market rolls over.Earnings have been growing at 15%/year compounded over the past five years. If that were to keep up, 33x earnings seems a little aggressive, but it's a justifiable price. It is a PEG ratio of over 2x after all, .However, should earnings growth slow down, 33x earnings is almost certainly too expensive. And with merchants hitting a breaking point on fees, don't expect Visa to keep being able to increase earnings by taking more of the retail pie forever. Visa Stock ConclusionVisa stock makes for a fantastic long-term buy and hold investment. There's no disputing that fact. If you buy at a halfway-decent price, you are likely to earn a solid total return as the company exploits its dominant market share to keep gobbling up more and more business.If you're looking at Visa stock as a shorter-term trade, however, there are reasons for concern. You're looking at a stock already up 21% over the past year and 15% year-to-date. We're only in March, so 15% year-to-date is quite the run. Visa stock is already at new all-time highs, well ahead of the market as a whole.And the analyst consensus for Visa stock is only around $160, suggesting less than 10% upside. Visa stock would have to put up great earnings to get analysts to lift their targets much higher. Again, V stock is a solid investment, but this isn't the most compelling entry point.At the time of this writing, Ian Bezek held DFS stock. You can reach him on Twitter at @irbezek. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 5 of the Best Stocks to Buy Under $10 * 7 Retail Stocks Winning in 2019 and Beyond * The 10 Best Stocks to Buy for the Bull Market's Anniversary Compare Brokers The post The Visa Stock Upside Is Small and Getting Smaller appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- Investopedia•11 days ago
Visa vs. MasterCard: What's the Difference?
Visa and MasterCard are two of the most widely used credit card brands, but are the differences between the two significant enough to influence consumers?
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Mastercard (MA) to Acquire Ethoca to Enhance Cyber Strategy
Mastercard (MA) to acquire Ethoca for identifying and acting on fraud in digital payments.
- InvestorPlace•11 days ago
PayPal Stock Still Has Plenty of Room to Run
Last year was especially hard on the financial sector. It developed the reputation that the banks could sustain a rally. But one segment within the financials is hotter than ever and held up well even last year. Unlike traditional money centers, financial technology or "fintech stocks" like PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) and even old dogs like Visa (NYSE:V) or Mastercard (NYSE:MA) continue to rally through thick and thin. Wall Street is enamored with their business models, and this has benefitted PayPal stock.Source: Shutterstock In fact, PayPal stock is up 21% in the past 12 months; whereas, the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA:XLF) is down 10% for the same period. The fastest and most expensive runner of the fintech bunch is Square (NYSE:SQ), which is up 35% year-to-date, but PYPL, V and MA are all strong regardless as each is up around 15% for the same period.Today, the story is about PayPal and how it should be a winning investment for the long term and offer short-term opportunities.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips How to Approach PayPal Stock TodayFor years, the global trend has been to transition finances to strictly online transactions. From regular shopping to global money flow, we demand our money to flow fast and worldwide. This was most evident during the Bitcoin craze of 2017. Although the value of the coin is debatable, everyone agrees that the blockchain technology behind it is attractive and encapsulates the concept. * 10 Dividend Stock Winners Transactor companies like Paypal offer the blockchain concept of moving money fast and they are operational now. So they are best suited to sustain their success for years to come. Since the transition to electronic finance is in its infancy, there is enough business for all the current competitors to thrive.So PYPL stock is likely to do well for the long term, but the problem for investors is that it's a momentum stock. It moves fast in both directions and this presents a problem to many. On the way up it seems like it's ready to correct thereby forcing traders to miss out on the upside.Case in point, while Wall Street is still expecting a correction in stocks, PYPL stock is almost at its all-time highs. Clearly, the fintech bulls are used to the momentum aspect of this trade. The idea is to buy high and sell higher. Else we'd end up missing the whole trade.Fundamentally, Paypal stock is not cheap. It is almost twice as expensive as V and three times as expensive as American Express (NYSE:AXP). But for as long as it is growing fast, investors will give it a pass on that front.Younger companies need to over spend in order to catch up so it is more important that traders judge their top line performance and not the margins. At least PYPL is in the black whereas SQ still loses money.For those who want to own the shares for the long term, then, the actual timing is less important. If the stock market is rising, then PYPL will be higher later. But not every one wants to hold stocks for the long term and for those kinds of investors, there are short-term clues for more surgical entry and exit points. Bottom Line on PYPLFor the short term, PYPL is near its all-time highs, so buying it up here requires courage. But with proper stop loss levels, traders can do it provided they stick to their exit points well. * 7 Dark Horse Stocks That Deserve Your Attention in 2019 PayPal stock recently broke out of the $94 zone so that would be the best level of short-term support if the rally fades from the top. The closest support level, which usually is the weakest, is at $97. Below that, there are two similar supports at $96 and $95. So depending on personal preferences and risk tolerance, those would be the significant short-term levels to trade. This only applies to those in it for the short term. Longer term, it can fall to $88 per share and not change the bullish thesis much.In summary, Wall Street is attracted to financial tech because the transition into an electronic environment plays right into the hands of companies like PayPal. That means you can own it or trade it with confidence for years to come.Nicolas Chahine is the managing director of SellSpreads.com. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. You can follow him as @racernic on Twitter and Stocktwits. More From InvestorPlace * 2 Toxic Pot Stocks You Should Avoid * 5 of the Best Stocks to Buy Under $10 * 7 Retail Stocks Winning in 2019 and Beyond * The 10 Best Stocks to Buy for the Bull Market's Anniversary Compare Brokers The post PayPal Stock Still Has Plenty of Room to Run appeared first on InvestorPlace.
- Motley Fool•12 days ago
Top Financial Stocks to Buy in 2019
A look at why the financial sector is essential to a healthy economy and how investors can find the industry's best stocks.
