Commonwealth Financial Services LLC Increases Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Commonwealth Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,123 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $591,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 7.4% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 167,963 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $82,940,000 after acquiring an additional 11,513 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 27.1% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,513 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,191,000 after purchasing an additional 2,239 shares during the last quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 261.1% in the 3rd quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,732,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter worth $5,129,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co grew its position in Mastercard by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 22,045 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,886,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $599.42.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $564.48 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $518.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.64, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $576.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $528.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $501.78.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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.