Waldron Private Wealth LLC Boosts Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,773 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,135 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,651,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the third 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. boosted its position in Mastercard by 0.9% in 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 buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $690,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Boltwood Capital Management raised its position in Mastercard by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,055 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,082,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of a number of research reports. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays raised their target price on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $595.64.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $555.63 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company has a market capitalization of $509.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.03, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $527.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $500.25. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $576.94.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. Sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.00%.

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

About Mastercard

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.