Avanza Fonder AB Buys 4,555 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Avanza Fonder AB grew its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,815 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,555 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 0.9% of Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $34,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. now owns 561 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Borer Denton & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.1% during the third quarter. Borer Denton & Associates Inc. now owns 4,847 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,757,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its stake in Mastercard by 44.9% during the third quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 816 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 19.0% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 87,939 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $50,021,000 after buying an additional 14,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 6.6% in the third quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 2,626 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Evercore ISI set a $610.00 target price on Mastercard in a report on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 price target on Mastercard and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $657.48.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE MA opened at $579.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $555.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $565.87. The company has a market cap of $520.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.04, 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. The company 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%.Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 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 is 19.44%.

About Mastercard

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.