402 Shares in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Purchased by Financial Partners Group Inc

Financial Partners Group Inc bought a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 402 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Catalina Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,546 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,867,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $670,000. Means Investment CO. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 1,834 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $966,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,411 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $738,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 789 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MA. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $635.00 price objective (up previously from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday. Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $595.64.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $555.63 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $509.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $528.28 and a 200-day moving average of $501.43. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $576.94.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released 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%. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its board 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 reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually 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.