Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Has $433,000 Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 822 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 102 shares during the period. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $806,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Northstar Group Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Northstar Group Inc. now owns 816 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,588 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA increased its position in Mastercard by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 1,184 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $623,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generate Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 57.8% in the fourth quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd now owns 20,188 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,630,000 after acquiring an additional 7,393 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Macquarie raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $603.08.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.8 %

MA opened at $562.55 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $516.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $531.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $504.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued 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 return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.89%.

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

About Mastercard

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.