NWF Advisory Services Inc. Grows Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

NWF Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 147.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,544 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,516 shares during the period. NWF Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Keystone Global Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $571.40 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $554.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $566.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. 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 $513.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.87.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 45.28% and a return on equity of 202.03%. The business had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. 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%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 19.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MA. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 target price on shares of Mastercard and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Mastercard from $645.00 to $654.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $713.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target 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.