MasterCard "overweight," target price raised - update

30.05.08 - Lehman Brothers

NEW YORK, May 30 (newratings.com) - Analyst Bruce W Harting of Lehman Brothers maintains his "overweight" rating on MasterCard Inc (MA), while raising his estimates for the company. The target price has been raised from $300 to $335.

In a research note published this morning, the analyst mentions that although spending volumes slowed down in the initial two months of 2Q08, GDV growth accelerated on a sequential basis. MasterCard has raised its annual earnings growth guidance from 15%-20% to 20%-30%. There is upside to the revised guidance on account of additional share buybacks, the analyst adds. The EPS estimates for the current and next year have been raised from $8.60 to $8.70 and from $10.75 to $11.30, respectively.