Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Raises Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 53.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,180 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,536 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter worth about $34,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in Mastercard in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $54,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MA. TD Cowen increased their target price on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.63.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $525.22 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $427.45 and a 52 week high of $537.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $482.06 billion, a PE ratio of 39.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $524.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $494.24.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.39 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.97%.

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.