Wealth Quarterback LLC Acquires Shares of 401 Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Wealth Quarterback LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 401 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after purchasing an additional 8,035,099 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Mastercard by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,846,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,043,972,000 after purchasing an additional 453,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $573,017,000 after purchasing an additional 409,334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.3 %

MA opened at $564.77 on Monday. 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $535.49 and a 200 day moving average of $510.30. The firm has a market cap of $518.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.98 EPS for the current year.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MA. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.11.

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.