BSW Wealth Partners Grows Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

BSW Wealth Partners grew its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,315 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners’ holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MA. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after acquiring an additional 700,769 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 453,773 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,971,020,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 304,293 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MA. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $567.29.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $547.61 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $525.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $498.70. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $551.55. 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 company has a market cap of $502.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.42, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.00%.

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.