Jessup Wealth Management Inc Invests $211,000 in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Jessup Wealth Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 400 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Mastercard by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $925,662,000 after buying an additional 241,297 shares during the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 5.8% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 563 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 17.3% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,467 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,119,000 after acquiring an additional 2,721 shares during the last quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd increased its position in Mastercard by 19.2% during the third quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 395,189 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $195,144,000 after purchasing an additional 63,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet North America Advisors SA increased its position in Mastercard by 1.8% during the third quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 15,488 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,648,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.1 %

MA opened at $568.97 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $576.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $522.22 billion, a PE ratio of 40.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $537.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $512.17.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Mastercard from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Macquarie boosted their target price on Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.11.

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.