Wealthquest Corp Increases Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Wealthquest Corp grew its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 655 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the quarter. Wealthquest Corp’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldstein Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $749,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.9% during the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 2,190 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $690,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,055 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,082,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Traveka Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on MA shares. Macquarie upped their price target on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $566.63.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $525.22 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $482.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $427.45 and a 52-week high of $537.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $524.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $494.92.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.39 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.97%.

Mastercard declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.