Calamos Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Calamos Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,134 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 7.4% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 167,963 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $82,940,000 after purchasing an additional 11,513 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 27.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,513 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,191,000 after acquiring an additional 2,239 shares during the last quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 261.1% in the third quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,732,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,129,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.3% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 22,045 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,886,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MA. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $599.42.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $564.48 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $576.94. The company has a market cap of $518.10 billion, a PE ratio of 40.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $528.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $501.78.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. As a group, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 21.89%.

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