Prosperity Financial Group Inc. Purchases 54 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Prosperity Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,323 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 54 shares during the quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter worth $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at $35,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:MA opened at $520.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $506.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $473.83. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $404.32 and a fifty-two week high of $534.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $478.06 billion, a PE ratio of 39.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.97%.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $489.86, for a total value of $2,294,994.10. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 15,031 shares in the company, valued at $7,363,085.66. This trade represents a 23.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on MA shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $572.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $549.16.

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.