Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Has $8.80 Million Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,702 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,452 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $8,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth about $34,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MA. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $566.63.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.0 %

MA stock opened at $522.59 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $425.48 and a 52 week high of $537.70. The company has a market cap of $479.65 billion, a PE ratio of 39.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $524.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $493.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.97%.

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.