Rodgers & Associates LTD Acquires Shares of 398 Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Rodgers & Associates LTD purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 21.2% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 454,183 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $200,368,000 after acquiring an additional 79,418 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,082,729 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,241,297,000 after buying an additional 71,569 shares during the last quarter. Dundas Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth $19,614,000. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth $1,826,000. Finally, Delta Investment Management LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 2,626 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,158,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $535.41 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $537.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $524.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $496.23. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $491.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.37, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm’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. Equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $567.29.

Mastercard 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.