Simplify Asset Management Inc. Buys Shares of 1,483 Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Simplify Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,483 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $844,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,594,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Mastercard in the first quarter worth approximately $361,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Mastercard in the first quarter worth approximately $474,000. Betterment LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 889 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1,278.6% during the 1st quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 1,351 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $713.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Macquarie upped their price target on Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $657.48.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $577.89 on Tuesday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $555.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $565.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $518.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.87. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $465.59 and a 12-month high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.89 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.44%.

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.