Kovack Advisors Inc. Increases Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,853 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 304 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,502,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 14.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $925,662,000 after buying an additional 241,297 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 0.4% during the third quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 6,417 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,169,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 1.9% during the third quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 3,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,736,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 2.3% during the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,107 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,624,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Strategies LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 4.5% during the third quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 533 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MA. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $560.86 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $576.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $511.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.38, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $541.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $516.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally 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.