Mastercard Incorporated $MA Position Boosted by Embree Financial Group

Embree Financial Group increased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 180.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,102 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,997 shares during the period. Embree Financial Group’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,764,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter worth $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the first quarter worth $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MA. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 14th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $657.48.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $565.88 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $553.51 and its 200-day moving average is $566.13. The stock has a market cap of $508.16 billion, a PE ratio of 36.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.87. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 22.25%.

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.