Baird Financial Group Inc. Has $307.93 Million Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 547,981 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,883 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Mastercard worth $307,932,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on MA shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Mastercard from $645.00 to $654.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 price objective on Mastercard and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $652.50.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $553.83 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $497.33 billion, a PE ratio of 35.41, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $557.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $567.57. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 202.03% and a net margin of 45.28%.Mastercard’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, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.44%.

About Mastercard

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.