By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Cassia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA – Free Report) by 29.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,017 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up 0.7% of Cassia Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Cassia Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,062,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd now owns 14,609 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,693,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,033,810 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $544,373,000 after purchasing an additional 38,606 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 102.3% in the 4th quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 93,385 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $49,174,000 after purchasing an additional 47,227 shares during the period. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB grew its holdings in Mastercard by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 133,479 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $70,286,000 after buying an additional 1,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 14,526 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,634,000 after buying an additional 638 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of analysts have issued reports on MA shares. Macquarie boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $603.08.
Read Our Latest Research Report on MA
Mastercard Stock Performance
NYSE:MA opened at $559.21 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $529.03 and its 200-day moving average is $502.60. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-year high of $576.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The stock has a market cap of $513.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10.
Mastercard (NYSE:MA – Get Free Report) 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 net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 earnings per share for the current year.
Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
Mastercard Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 21.89%.
Mastercard Company 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.
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