Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Acquired by Anchor Investment Management LLC

Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,345 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 74.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 15,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,363,085.66. The trade was a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on MA. Barclays lifted their target price on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer began coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $559.28.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $534.45 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $515.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $480.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $411.60 and a 1-year high of $535.89. The company has a market capitalization of $490.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.39 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.97%.

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.