Merit Financial Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Key Points

• Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stock holdings in Mastercard by 22.3%, owning 31,120 shares worth approximately $17.48 million after acquiring 5,681 additional shares in the 2nd quarter.
• Mastercard has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, which will be paid to investors on November 7th, contributing to an annualized dividend of $3.04.
• The company reported strong quarterly earnings, with $4.15 earnings per share, exceeding estimates by $0.10 and showing a 16.8% revenue increase year-over-year.

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 22.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,120 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,681 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $17,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,544,675 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $42,503,787,000 after buying an additional 365,537 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth $11,421,213,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Mastercard by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,096,979 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $11,015,557,000 after acquiring an additional 907,184 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Mastercard by 38.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,526,118 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $7,413,936,000 after acquiring an additional 3,765,378 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth about $4,238,764,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total value of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at $4,833,004.23. The trade was a 3.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total value of $10,456,032.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 31,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,330,922.26. This represents a 36.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,391 shares of company stock valued at $20,836,514. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $581.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $465.59 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $580.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $561.85. The firm has a market cap of $525.30 billion, a PE ratio of 39.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.97.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.50 EPS. Mastercard's revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. Mastercard's payout ratio is currently 20.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on MA shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Saturday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $630.89.

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.

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