Benjamin Edwards Inc. Increases Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,155 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,621 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises approximately 0.8% of Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $63,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at $11,421,213,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 55,868.1% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,421,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,541,880,000 after buying an additional 13,397,168 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $6,725,317,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Mastercard by 38.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,413,936,000 after acquiring an additional 3,765,378 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Mastercard by 25.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,372,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,580,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,977 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MA. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Compass Point set a $620.00 price target on Mastercard and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Evercore ISI set a $610.00 price objective on Mastercard in a report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Mastercard from $638.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $654.81.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $571.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The company 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 Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $554.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $566.44.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 22.25%.

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.