Empowered Funds LLC Boosts Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 28.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 37,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,259 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $19,730,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter worth about $273,000. Fermata Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% in the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 694 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 43.6% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 36,140 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,839,000 after purchasing an additional 10,969 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 1.9% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 23,964 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,833,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network grew its stake in Mastercard by 25.1% during the third quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 3,823 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,888,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on MA. DZ Bank raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $635.00 target price (up from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 target price (up from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $603.08.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.8 %

Mastercard stock opened at $562.55 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $531.61 and a 200 day moving average of $505.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $516.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. 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 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. As a group, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

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