Brave Asset Management Inc. Has $907,000 Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Brave Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,722 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 20 shares during the period. Brave Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sawyer & Company Inc grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 6,967 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,668,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 422 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Rockingstone Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 4,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,594,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,891 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,524,000 after buying an additional 676 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 53,121 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $27,972,000 after buying an additional 5,196 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. Macquarie raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $575.00 price objective (up previously from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $566.63.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA opened at $522.41 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $425.48 and a 1-year high of $537.70. The company has a 50 day moving average of $524.14 and a 200-day moving average of $493.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm has a market cap of $479.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.52, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.39 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.97%.

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.