Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 134,265 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,603 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up approximately 1.8% of Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $70,700,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 138,842 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 2,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,540,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 49.3% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,215 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,117,490 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,033,217,000 after purchasing an additional 99,145 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MA. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 price objective (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $635.00 target price (up previously from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.11.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE MA opened at $543.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $495.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $548.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $525.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. Research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.