Apollon Wealth Management LLC Has $17.12 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 24.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,504 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,422 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $17,116,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in Mastercard by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,390 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,143,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 5.6% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 57,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $28,604,000 after purchasing an additional 3,089 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 3.1% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 832 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Private Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 10.1% during the third quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,780 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,829,000 after buying an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the third quarter worth $273,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Macquarie raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $635.00 price objective (up from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $603.08.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:MA opened at $562.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $531.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $504.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $576.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $516.33 billion, a PE ratio of 40.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board 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.