Daymark Wealth Partners LLC Sells 327 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Daymark Wealth Partners LLC cut its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,770 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 327 shares during the quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,154,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.9% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 8,286 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,655,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Resources Management Corp CT ADV increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 12.2% in the second quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 3,451 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,522,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. Tremblant Capital Group raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 46.7% during the 2nd quarter. Tremblant Capital Group now owns 4,028 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,777,000 after buying an additional 1,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in Mastercard by 3.8% during the second quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 7,007 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,219,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $575.00 price target (up from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.63.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.6 %

Mastercard stock opened at $527.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $484.47 billion, a PE ratio of 39.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $537.70. The company has a 50 day moving average of $524.16 and a 200-day moving average of $496.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

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.