Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Purchased by Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc

Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc raised its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 155.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,930 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the period. Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,098,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the period. Betterment LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 6.2% in the first quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 889 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 1.5% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,575 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,729,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec boosted its stake in Mastercard by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 239,337 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $131,195,000 after buying an additional 17,786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Holt Capital Advisors L.L.C. dba Holt Capital Partners L.P. now owns 3,120 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,710,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $577.33 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The stock has a market cap of $518.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.87. 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 has a fifty day moving average price of $555.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $565.53.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Mastercard had a return on equity of 202.03% and a net margin of 45.28%.The company had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.89 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $654.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $610.00 target price on Mastercard in a report on Friday, December 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $657.48.

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.