Essex Financial Services Inc. Has $1.40 Million Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,275 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,397,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Waycross Partners LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 32,071 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $13,679,000 after acquiring an additional 754 shares during the period. Parthenon LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Parthenon LLC now owns 947 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $404,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 1,819 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $776,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 17,211 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,875 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Mastercard from $480.00 to $478.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.14.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $442.30 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $357.85 and a fifty-two week high of $490.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $470.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $437.42. The company has a market capitalization of $412.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.39, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.08.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 191.22% and a net margin of 44.60%. The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 22.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total value of $3,736,447.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 47,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,672,828.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,527,976,823. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 467,088 shares of company stock valued at $215,249,338 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

About Mastercard

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.