Benjamin Edwards Inc. Acquires 12,746 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 11.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 124,901 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,746 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 0.8% of Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $71,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 73.2% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Curio Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 22,400.0% in the second quarter. Curio Wealth LLC now owns 225 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 88.9% during the third quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 15,335 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,723,000 after acquiring an additional 7,215 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 3,694.7% during the 3rd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 9,297 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,288,000 after acquiring an additional 9,052 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 78,475,807 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $44,098,695,000 after acquiring an additional 931,132 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA opened at $580.34 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $465.59 and a 1 year high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $521.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $556.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $566.38.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.31 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.28% and a return on equity of 202.03%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Macquarie increased their price target on Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $657.48.

Mastercard 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.