Decker Retirement Planning Inc. Takes $471,000 Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 895 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $471,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Occidental Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 38.5% during the fourth quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at $16,266,000. Cvfg LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $1,841,000. Salvus Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $832,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC now owns 635 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.1 %

MA stock opened at $523.08 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $524.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $493.43. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $425.48 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 company has a market cap of $480.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.57, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company 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 business posted $3.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 EPS for the current year.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $572.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho boosted their price target on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.63.

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.