EP Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 163.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 51,578 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,003 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $28,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.8% in the second quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,272 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,276,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 0.6% during the second quarter. KRS Capital Management LLC now owns 2,848 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,601,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Nvest Financial LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nvest Financial LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 339 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $191,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of MA opened at $571.40 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $554.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $566.44. The firm has a market cap of $513.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid 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 an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 22.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Citigroup raised shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Mastercard from $638.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Mastercard from $685.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $654.81.

Mastercard Company 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.