Mastercard Incorporated $MA Shares Sold by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,581 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 971 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $8,863,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Compass Point set a $620.00 price target on Mastercard and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen cut Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 14th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $657.48.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.0%

MA stock opened at $568.85 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 company has a market cap of $510.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.37, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $555.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $565.94. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.25%.

Mastercard 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.