Milestone Asset Management LLC Acquires 95 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Milestone Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MAFree Report) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 864 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 95 shares during the quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter worth about $34,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in Mastercard in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 74.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth $54,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Up 2.9 %

MA stock opened at $564.81 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $518.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.72, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $526.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $499.80. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $428.86 and a 12 month high of $576.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MAGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. As a group, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.54%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a share repurchase 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 usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $567.29.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Mastercard

Mastercard Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Mastercard (NYSE:MA)

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