Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Bought by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 76.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 56,274 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,453 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $32,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter worth $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Robbins Farley raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 45.2% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 61 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 price target on shares of Mastercard and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, January 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $713.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $661.24.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $535.49 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $556.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $566.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The stock has a market cap of $480.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 22.25%.

Mastercard Company 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.