Apollon Wealth Management LLC Purchases 2,149 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,047 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,149 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $28,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MA shares. Morgan Stanley set a $665.00 price target on shares of Mastercard and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on Mastercard from $690.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Mastercard from $645.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $657.48.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $579.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $520.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.06, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.87. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $465.59 and a fifty-two week high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $555.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $565.67.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The credit services provider reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.31 by $0.07. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.28% and a return on equity of 202.03%. The company had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.44%.

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.