Marcum Wealth LLC Sells 31 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Marcum Wealth LLC lessened its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,881 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 31 shares during the quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MA. Quilter Plc grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 801 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $3,417,000. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 76.1% during the second quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Waycross Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 12.2% during the second quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 39,019 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,214,000 after buying an additional 4,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Black Diamond Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 55.6% in the second quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC now owns 937 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MA. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $572.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $566.13.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $505.27 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $463.75 billion, a PE ratio of 38.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $524.08 and a 200-day moving average of $492.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $425.48 and a one year high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.