Grimes & Company Inc. Grows Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Grimes & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,726 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 60 shares during the quarter. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth $34,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter worth $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% during the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter worth $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $533.50 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $537.70. The firm has a market cap of $489.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.36, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $524.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $497.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced 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. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. 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%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Mastercard from $575.00 to $591.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Four 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $567.29.

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.