Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC Purchases Shares of 219 Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 219 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $110,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in Mastercard by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 6,599 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,474,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 73.1% in the 4th quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,864 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 26.4% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 21,207 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,167,000 after purchasing an additional 4,434 shares in the last quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,694 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,472,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 3,685 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,941,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $525.22 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $524.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $493.64. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $427.45 and a 52-week high of $537.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $482.06 billion, a PE ratio of 39.73, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.39 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MA. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $572.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Four research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.63.

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.