Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases 1,225 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,345 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,225 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $18,398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MA. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Compass Point set a $620.00 price target on Mastercard and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Evercore ISI set a $610.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, December 12th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $657.48.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $577.33 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $518.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $555.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $565.53. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $465.59 and a 1 year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.28% and a return on equity of 202.03%. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.25%.

Mastercard Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.