Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Grows Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,863 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 483.3% in the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 70 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $564.68 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $576.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $540.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $515.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $514.82 billion, a PE ratio of 40.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie raised their price objective on Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

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.