Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Raises Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 137.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,139 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,711 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Curio Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 153.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,856 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,625,000 after buying an additional 1,730 shares in the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 309,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $175,872,000 after buying an additional 4,700 shares during the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. increased 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 worth $8,723,000 after buying an additional 7,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3,694.7% in the third 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $527.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $473.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $465.59 and a 1 year high of $601.77. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $554.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $563.50.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.82 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MA. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $656.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Evercore set a $610.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Compass Point raised shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $620.00 to $735.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $669.27.

Mastercard Company 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.