Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Acquired by Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 36.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 750 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Goldstein Advisors LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% during the third quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $749,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 2,190 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management increased its holdings in Mastercard by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,055 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp raised its position in Mastercard by 1.3% in the third quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $572.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $575.00 target price (up from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target 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-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $562.76.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.9 %

Mastercard stock opened at $516.06 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $418.54 and a 1 year high of $537.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $524.15 and its 200-day moving average is $491.44. 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 company has a market cap of $473.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.04, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.39 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. 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 0.59%. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

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.