Private Client Services LLC Purchases 52 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Private Client Services LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 832 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the quarter. Private Client Services LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Goldstein Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $749,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 0.9% in the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 2,190 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.5% during the third quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $690,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,055 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,082,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $572.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $562.76.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock traded up $4.27 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $515.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,037,716 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,112,119. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $523.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $491.10. The company has a market cap of $473.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.01, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $418.54 and a 1-year high of $537.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign 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.