Terril Brothers Inc. Takes Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Terril Brothers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 501 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 14.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $925,662,000 after acquiring an additional 241,297 shares in the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.2% during the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 773 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter valued at about $109,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 7.4% during the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 34,018 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $16,798,000 after acquiring an additional 2,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR boosted its position in Mastercard by 2.3% in the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 89,267 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $44,080,000 after buying an additional 2,033 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on MA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Up 2.0 %

NYSE MA opened at $576.08 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $542.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $517.21. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $576.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $525.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend 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.