Quent Capital LLC Purchases 820 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Quent Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 22.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,396 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 820 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 9.4% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 372 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Harrington Investments INC grew its stake in Mastercard by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Harrington Investments INC now owns 3,225 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,593,000 after buying an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 205,594 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $101,523,000 after buying an additional 11,331 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $810,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $925,662,000 after buying an additional 241,297 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 price objective (up from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $603.08.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA opened at $564.79 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $518.38 billion, a PE ratio of 40.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $532.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $507.00. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $576.94.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.98 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard declared that its board has authorized 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 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 shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

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.