Financial Advocates Investment Management Acquires 118 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,626 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in Mastercard by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,846,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 3.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,043,972,000 after purchasing an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 52.8% in the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $573,017,000 after buying an additional 409,334 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $603.08.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:MA opened at $566.05 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $519.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $576.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $529.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $503.41.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board 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.