Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Purchased by Graypoint LLC

Graypoint LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,611 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $8,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RMR Wealth Builders lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 4,526 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,383,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 713 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 108 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 62.9% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 228 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 72.5% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 88 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA traded down $10.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $505.52. 2,815,460 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,472,708. 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 has a market cap of $463.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $425.48 and a 12-month high of $537.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $524.15 and a 200 day moving average of $491.44.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, November 25th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Macquarie increased their price objective on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $562.76.

About Mastercard

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.