Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 22.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,120 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,681 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $17,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.6% in the first quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.9% in the first quarter. Wealthstream Advisors Inc. now owns 632 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.8% in the first quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.6% in the first quarter. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 540 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Finally, May Hill Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.0% in the first quarter. May Hill Capital LLC now owns 986 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Mastercard from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $630.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total value of $10,456,032.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,330,922.26. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. The trade was a 3.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,391 shares of company stock worth $20,836,514 in the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $581.08 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $525.30 billion, a PE ratio of 39.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $580.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $561.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $465.59 and a 12 month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 20.50%.

About Mastercard

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.