Perigon Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,708 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $21,819,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,385,383,000 after buying an additional 62,891 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Mastercard by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,325,353,000 after acquiring an additional 337,905 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its position in Mastercard by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $194,141,000 after purchasing an additional 9,611 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its position in Mastercard by 4.7% during the third quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $410,813,000 after purchasing an additional 37,486 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $547.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $502.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.42, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $547.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company’s 50 day moving average is $524.77 and its 200 day moving average is $497.91.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.39 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a stock 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 reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho increased their price target on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.