Everhart Financial Group Inc. Has $2.45 Million Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Everhart Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,651 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,425,665,000 after buying an additional 257,312 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,043,972,000 after purchasing an additional 453,773 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after purchasing an additional 8,035,099 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,501,814 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,800,836,000 after purchasing an additional 304,293 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $564.77 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $576.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $518.36 billion, a PE ratio of 40.66, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.03. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $535.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $509.54.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase 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 reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Company 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.