HCR Wealth Advisors Raises Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

HCR Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,889 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,425,665,000 after purchasing an additional 257,312 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 3.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after buying an additional 700,769 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 2.5% in the third 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 buying an additional 453,773 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 304,293 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $522.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $425.48 and a 12 month high of $537.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $479.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $524.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $493.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.39 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This is an increase 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 Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $566.63.

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.