Fiduciary Alliance LLC Purchases 4,429 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 141.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,565 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,429 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,740 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,443,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth approximately $160,000. Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,952 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,554,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its position in Mastercard by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 177,726 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $93,585,000 after purchasing an additional 9,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RMR Wealth Builders increased its position in Mastercard by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 4,526 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,383,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of MA traded down $1.15 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $503.52. The company had a trading volume of 925,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,238,396. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $425.48 and a 1-year high of $537.70. The stock has a market cap of $462.15 billion, a PE ratio of 38.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $524.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $492.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.39 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 23.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MA shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $575.00 target price (up from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $566.13.

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.