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How to buy Mastercard (MA) shares in Australia

Learn how to easily invest in Mastercard shares.

Mastercard Inc is a credit services business with stocks listed in the US. Mastercard shares (MA) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Its last market close was US$432.45 – a decrease of 3.63% over the previous week. Here's how to invest if you're based in Australia.

How to buy shares in Mastercard

  1. Compare share trading platforms. To buy shares in a company listed in the US from Australia you'll need to find a trading platform that offers access to US stock markets. Look for a platform with low brokerage and foreign exchange fees.
  2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, which will typically include your ID and tax file number. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
  3. Search for Mastercard. Find the share by name or ticker symbol: MA. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment that matches your financial goals.
  4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Mastercard reaches your desired price. To spread out your risk, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying using consistent intervals and amounts.
  5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of US$441.72, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimise risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Mastercard, depending on your broker.
  6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Mastercard. Optimise your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights.

Mastercard stock price (NYSE:MA)

Use our graph to track the performance of MA stocks over time.

Have Mastercard's shares ever split?

Mastercard's shares were split on a 10:1 basis on 21 January 2014. So if you had owned 1 share the day before the split, the next day you would own 10 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Mastercard shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 90% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Mastercard shares which in turn could have impacted Mastercard's share price.

Mastercard shares at a glance

Information last updated 2024-07-20.
52-week rangeUS$358.1765 - US$488.5985
50-day moving average US$448.8272
200-day moving average US$438.5537
Target priceUS$513.72
PE ratio 35.2135
Dividend yield US$2.46 (0.6%)
Earnings per share (TTM) US$12.6

Mastercard share growth calculator

US$

Use the fields above to explore the returns from a historical investment. Please refer to the charts further up this page to see performance over 5 years, or other periods. Past performance doesn't indicate future results. Capital is at risk.

Mastercard price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the last close of $432.45

1 week (2024-07-18) -3.63%
1 month (2024-06-25) -5.09%
3 months (2024-04-25) -6.42%
6 months (2024-01-25) -1.00%
1 year (2023-07-25) 7.77%
2 years (2022-07-25) 25.64%
3 years (2021-07-23) 9.97%
5 years (2019-07-25) 54.81%

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The value of your investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is no indication of future results.

Is it a good time to buy Mastercard stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. However, this is not a recommendation. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Is Mastercard under- or over-valued?

Valuing Mastercard stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Mastercard's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Mastercard's P/E ratio

Mastercard's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 35x. In other words, Mastercard shares trade at around 35x recent earnings.

That's relatively high compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The high P/E ratio could mean that investors are optimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're over-valued.

Mastercard's PEG ratio

Mastercard's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 1.5569. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Mastercard's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Mastercard's EBITDA

Mastercard's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is US$15.8 billion (£12.2 billion).

The EBITDA is a measure of a Mastercard's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure stock profitability.

Mastercard share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Mastercard's shares have ranged in value from as little as US$358.1765 up to US$488.5985. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

MA.US volatility(beta: 1.09)Avg. volatility(beta: 1.00)LowHigh

Beta measures a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Mastercard's is 1.09. This would suggest that Mastercard's shares are a little bit more volatile than the average for this exchange and represent, relatively speaking, a slightly higher risk (but potentially also market-beating returns).

Mastercard financials

Revenue TTM US$25.7 billion
Operating margin TTM 58.76%
Gross profit TTM US$22.2 billion
Return on assets TTM 22.89%
Return on equity TTM 186.32%
Profit margin 46.09%
Book value 7.78
Market capitalisation US$412.5 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Mastercard share dividends

20%

Dividend payout ratio: 19.97% of net profits

Recently Mastercard has paid out, on average, around 19.97% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 0.6% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Mastercard shareholders could enjoy a 0.6% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Mastercard's case, that would currently equate to about $2.46 per share.

While Mastercard's payout ratio might seem low, this can signify that Mastercard is investing more in its future growth.

Mastercard's most recent dividend payout was on 8 August 2024. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 8 July 2024 (the "ex-dividend date").

Mastercard's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Mastercard.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Mastercard's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 20.62

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Mastercard's overall score of 20.62 (as at 12/31/2018) is excellent – landing it in it in the 15th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Mastercard is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Mastercard's environmental score

Environmental score: 2.06/100

Mastercard's environmental score of 2.06 puts it squarely in the 5th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Mastercard is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Mastercard's social score

Social score: 8.68/100

Mastercard's social score of 8.68 puts it squarely in the 5th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Mastercard is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Mastercard's governance score

Governance score: 9.88/100

Mastercard's governance score puts it squarely in the 5th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Mastercard is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Mastercard's controversy score

Controversy score: 4/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Mastercard scored a 4 out of 5 for controversy – the second-lowest score possible, reflecting that Mastercard has a damaged public profile.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Mastercard Inc was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.

Total ESG score 20.62
Total ESG percentile 14.88
Environmental score 2.06
Environmental score percentile 5
Social score 8.68
Social score percentile 5
Governance score 9.88
Governance score percentile 5
Level of controversy 4

Mastercard overview

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. It also provides solutions that enable businesses or governments to make payments to businesses, including Virtual Card Number, which is generated dynamically from a physical card and leverages the credit limit of the funding account; a platform to optimize supplier payment enablement campaigns for financial institutions; and treasury intelligence platform that offers corporations with recommendations to enhance working capital performance and accelerate spend on cards. In addition, the company offers Mastercard Send, which partners with digital messaging and payment platforms to enable consumers to send money directly within applications to other consumers; and Mastercard Cross-Border Services enables a range of payment flows through a distribution network with a single point of access to send and receive money globally through various channels, including bank accounts, mobile wallets, cards, and cash payouts. Further, it provides cyber and intelligence solutions; insights and analytics, consulting, marketing, loyalty, processing, and payment gateway solutions for e-commerce merchants; and open banking and digital identity services. The company offers payment solutions and services under the MasterCard, Maestro, and Cirrus name. Mastercard Incorporated was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Purchase, New York.

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