Essex Savings Bank Buys 147 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Essex Savings Bank lifted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,368 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the quarter. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $54,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MA. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $566.63.

Mastercard Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $522.41 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $425.48 and a twelve month high of $537.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $479.48 billion, a PE ratio of 39.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $524.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $493.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.39 earnings per share. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Mastercard 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.