Cerity Partners LLC Buys 33,588 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 395,636 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,588 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $222,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MA. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Family Legacy Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MA. Citigroup raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $713.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $669.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $652.50.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $545.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $489.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.87. 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 Incorporated has a one year low of $465.59 and a one year high of $601.77. The company’s 50-day moving average is $556.55 and its 200 day moving average is $567.02.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 EPS 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 net margin of 45.28% and a return on equity of 202.03%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 9th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.44%.

Mastercard 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.