Essex Financial Services Inc. Purchases 104 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,056 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 104 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,135 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,651,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Services of America Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Services of America Inc. now owns 475 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% in the third quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. grew its stake in Mastercard by 0.9% in the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 2,190 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 price target (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $603.08.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.5 %

Mastercard stock opened at $565.51 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $428.86 and a 12 month high of $576.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $519.05 billion, a PE ratio of 40.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $531.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $506.04.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. On average, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Company Profile

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.