Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 4,516 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 14.0%, acquiring 4,516 shares to hold 36,860 shares valued at $21,043,000 per its latest 13F filing.
• Mastercard reported a strong quarter, beating EPS ( $4.76 vs. $4.24 consensus) with revenue of $8.81B, up 17.5% year‑over‑year and a net margin of 45.65%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share (annualized $3.48, yield 0.7%, payable May 8), while Wall Street remains broadly bullish with an average price target of $662 and most analysts rating the stock Buy/Strong Buy.

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,860 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,516 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $21,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Robbins Farley boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 841 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $479,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Alpine Bank Wealth Management raised its holdings in Mastercard by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 1,817 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,034,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Zullo Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 1.7% in the third quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,091 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $621,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 20.0% in the second quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 108 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $518.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $462.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.83. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $510.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $540.52. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $480.50 and a one year high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The company's revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Mastercard's payout ratio is 21.07%.

More Mastercard News

Here are the key news stories impacting Mastercard this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target on MA to $675, a bullish analyst signal that can support longer‑term upside and positive sentiment among growth investors. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard struck a decade‑long digital transformation deal with Nedbank covering SADC, which strengthens regional issuer/merchant relationships and can drive volume growth in Africa over the next several years. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Partnerships and product launches expand addressable markets: Mastercard is enabling AI‑agent payments via a tie‑up with lobster.cash and has a new Canadian co‑branded card with first‑class travel perks; both moves broaden use cases and premium card revenue potential. Read More. | Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Mastercard and FinVolution launched the Luvit Card in the Philippines to expand digital credit access—another geographic product rollout that can add transactional volume and fee income. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Visa and Mastercard reached settlements in merchant litigation, removing a legal overhang; settlement terms will determine the ultimate financial impact but the resolution reduces uncertainty. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and earnings commentary remains constructive: Zacks highlights Mastercard’s strong surprise history and positions MA as likely to beat again, which supports expectations but is not new positive news. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary (Morgan Stanley inclusion in a market‑rally list) and macro data (weekly jobless claims) provide context for consumer spending trends that indirectly affect card volumes—beneficial if the macro environment holds. Read More. | Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concerns over emerging technologies and related execution/competitive risks have pressured the stock, driving short‑term selling despite the company’s fundamentals and growth initiatives. Read More.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Macquarie Infrastructure raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Daiwa Securities Group set a $610.00 price target on shares of Mastercard and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Mastercard from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $665.00 to $678.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $662.00.

Mastercard Company Profile

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.