Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Bought by Catalyst Financial Partners LLC

Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,268 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 205,594 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $101,523,000 after buying an additional 11,331 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 14.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $925,662,000 after purchasing an additional 241,297 shares during the last quarter. ERn Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $226,000. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 28.3% in the third quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 222 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Provident Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Provident Wealth Management LLC now owns 509 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $566.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $533.94 and its 200-day moving average is $508.28. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $576.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $519.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Mastercard declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.