S Harris Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

S Harris Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,426 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $814,000. Mastercard accounts for 0.8% of S Harris Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MA. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 820.0% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 46 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Strive Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hyposwiss Advisors SA purchased a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 250.0% in the third quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 54.1% during the 4th quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.2%

MA stock opened at $490.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $433.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $498.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $521.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $464.52 and a 12 month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.19. Mastercard had a return on equity of 212.96% and a net margin of 45.88%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.73 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. UBS Group dropped their target price on Mastercard from $650.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup cut their price target on Mastercard from $735.00 to $675.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Mastercard from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $656.04.

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.