Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) is Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA’s 5th Largest Position

Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA lowered its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 14,124 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 237 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises approximately 3.6% of Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Marshall & Sullivan Inc. WA’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Goldstein Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 worth $749,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management raised 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $834,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $572.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group increased their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Macquarie boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $566.13.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $505.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,015,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,394,476. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $425.48 and a twelve month high of $537.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $524.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $492.31. The firm has a market cap of $463.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.21, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.39 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. 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 0.60%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication 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.