Regatta Capital Group LLC Has $1.53 Million Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Regatta Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,900 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 33 shares during the quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the third quarter worth $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% during the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at $55,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of MA opened at $533.50 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $524.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $497.10. 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 firm has a market cap of $489.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are 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 given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 23.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on MA shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp increased their target price on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $567.29.

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.