Tortoise Investment Management LLC Has $172,000 Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 16.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 326 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 47 shares during the quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in Mastercard by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 27,187 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $14,316,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares during the last quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,314 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $692,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $457,000. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $219,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 136,202 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $71,720,000 after acquiring an additional 13,928 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA opened at $535.80 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $488.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.57, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $545.35 and a 200-day moving average of $521.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-year high of $582.23.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Company 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.