Courier Capital LLC Purchases New Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Courier Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 7,344 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,867,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on MA shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $566.13.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $505.27 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $425.48 and a 1 year high of $537.70. 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 fifty day moving average price of $524.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $492.75. The firm has a market cap of $463.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.22, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released 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. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 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. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Company 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.