3,050 Shares in Mastercard Incorporated $MA Acquired by Weaver Capital Management LLC

Weaver Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,050 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,735,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MA. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.3%

MA stock opened at $577.89 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $555.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $565.42. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The company has a market cap of $518.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on MA shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $713.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 target price on shares of Mastercard and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $657.48.

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.