Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 4,389 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 43.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,823 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,389 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Mastercard by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,425,665,000 after purchasing an additional 257,312 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,043,972,000 after purchasing an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,501,814 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,800,836,000 after acquiring an additional 304,293 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $533.50 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $489.66 billion, a PE ratio of 40.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $537.70. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $524.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $497.46. 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 (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 23.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $567.29.

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.