Mastercard Incorporated $MA Position Increased by Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 27,641 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,124 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $15,723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Robbins Farley grew its position in Mastercard by 50.0% in the third quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.9%

MA stock opened at $540.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $485.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50-day moving average of $555.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $563.93. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $465.59 and a 52-week high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The business had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial set a $611.00 target price on Mastercard in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on Mastercard from $707.00 to $631.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Daiwa America raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, HSBC raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $669.27.

About Mastercard

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.