Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Bought by Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC

Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,434 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 83 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 74.0% during the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the third quarter worth about $55,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $566.63.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.2 %

MA opened at $533.77 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $428.86 and a 12 month high of $537.70. The business has a 50-day moving average of $524.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $496.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $489.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. Mastercard’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 business posted $3.39 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management 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.