By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA – Free Report) by 20.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,593 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,171 shares during the quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $16,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen increased their target price on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Mastercard from $575.00 to $591.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $567.29.
Mastercard Price Performance
Shares of MA opened at $534.02 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $490.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $537.70. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $524.77 and its 200-day moving average is $497.91.
Mastercard (NYSE:MA – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.
Mastercard Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 23.00%.
Mastercard declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.
Further Reading
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