Prospect Financial Services LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Prospect Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 772 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 65 shares during the quarter. Prospect Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the third quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 74.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the third quarter worth about $54,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MA. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $572.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Macquarie increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $567.29.

Mastercard Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $547.53 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-year high of $547.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The business’s 50 day moving average is $524.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $497.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $502.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.42, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

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.