Center For Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Center For Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 36.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,040 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Center For Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kathmere Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $665,000. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 1.7% during the second quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,167 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $956,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 10.6% in the second quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,832 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,132,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 25,565 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,278,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the period. Finally, Aviso Wealth Management raised its stake in Mastercard by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 1,925 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $849,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MA. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $572.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $575.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $567.29.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $533.50 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $489.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.36, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $524.77 and a 200 day moving average of $497.91. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.39 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 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 dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board 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.