Wedmont Private Capital Increases Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,368 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 854 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Goldstein Advisors LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $749,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. raised its stake in Mastercard by 0.9% in the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 2,190 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $690,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,055 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,082,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp lifted its position in Mastercard by 1.3% during the third quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $834,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $566.13.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.1 %

Mastercard stock traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $505.28. 1,668,965 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,351,229. The firm has a market capitalization of $463.76 billion, a PE ratio of 38.22, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $524.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $492.31. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $425.48 and a twelve month high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 23.00%.

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.