Archford Capital Strategies LLC Has $3.78 Million Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Archford Capital Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,169 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,775,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2,861.1% during the second quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,193 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,938,000 after acquiring an additional 10,815 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 1,211.0% in the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 79,970 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $35,280,000 after purchasing an additional 73,870 shares during the last quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP now owns 3,290 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 2,979 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,314,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 18,432 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,132,000 after buying an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MA. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $567.29.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:MA opened at $533.50 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $524.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $497.10. 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 $489.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.39 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.