HM Payson & Co. Reduces Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

HM Payson & Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 238,021 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,506 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 1.9% of HM Payson & Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $135,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of MA stock opened at $579.61 on Monday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $465.59 and a 1 year high of $601.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $520.49 billion, a PE ratio of 37.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $555.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $565.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $8.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.28% and a return on equity of 202.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.89 earnings per share. As a group, 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. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. 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. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 price target on Mastercard and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Macquarie boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $655.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $657.48.

About Mastercard

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.