Hollencrest Capital Management Grows Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 72,177 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 45 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 1.5% of Hollencrest Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Hollencrest Capital Management’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $38,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 14.8% during the 3rd 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. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,497,160,000 after buying an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 77.4% during the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 1,783 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $880,000 after buying an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 853 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,377 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,161,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of several research reports. Susquehanna upped their price target on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp upped their price target on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Down 2.0 %

MA stock opened at $526.11 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $582.23. The company has a market capitalization of $479.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $545.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $522.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid 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 0.58%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

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