Meridian Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,639 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MA. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter worth approximately $660,652,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 145.6% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,777,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $784,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053,616 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $259,071,000. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 53.4% during the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 1,043,557 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $460,376,000 after purchasing an additional 363,133 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Macquarie boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $549.16.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $518.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $506.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $473.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $476.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $404.32 and a 12-month high of $534.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.39 earnings per share. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.97%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total transaction of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 23.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mastercard Company Profile

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.