Curated Wealth Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Curated Wealth Partners LLC trimmed its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,651 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 60 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up 0.2% of Curated Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Curated Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 74.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MA shares. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Mastercard from $575.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Macquarie upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $567.29.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $533.50 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $524.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $496.49. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $537.70. The company has a market capitalization of $489.66 billion, a PE ratio of 40.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.39 EPS. Research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS 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 paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.