Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Purchased by Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC

Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,586 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 31.1% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 37,590 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $16,583,000 after acquiring an additional 8,911 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.9% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,517 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,875,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 63,616 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $28,065,000 after buying an additional 3,218 shares during the period. GM Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,194,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Mastercard by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,327,168 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,908,973,000 after acquiring an additional 113,238 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $575.00 price objective (up previously from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.63.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $525.22 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $427.45 and a 1 year high of $537.70. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $524.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $493.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $482.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.73, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS 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 posted $3.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 19.97%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.