Old Port Advisors Has $885,000 Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Old Port Advisors lifted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,681 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Old Port Advisors’ holdings in Mastercard were worth $885,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd grew its position in Mastercard by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,385,383,000 after purchasing an additional 62,891 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its position in Mastercard by 4.7% during the third quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $410,813,000 after buying an additional 37,486 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 2.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,474,151,000 after buying an additional 100,550 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 4.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,497,160,000 after acquiring an additional 138,842 shares during the period. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,850,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $575.00 price target (up previously from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $562.76.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.3 %

MA stock traded down $1.66 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $524.91. The stock had a trading volume of 963,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,467,849. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $416.53 and a twelve month high of $537.70. The firm has a market cap of $481.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.71, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $523.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $488.98.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.39 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.00%.

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

Mastercard Company 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.