Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC. Trims Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC. decreased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,521 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 65 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 0.6% of Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Mine & Arao Wealth Creation & Management LLC.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC now owns 5,503 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,897,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 5,830 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,070,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,249 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,290,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Hixon Zuercher LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC now owns 13,137 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,918,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 154,994 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $81,257,000 after buying an additional 16,527 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MA shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup increased their target price on Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Mastercard from $575.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. 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. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $567.29.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $564.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $576.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $526.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $499.80. The stock has a market cap of $518.40 billion, a PE ratio of 42.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. Equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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 given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.00%.

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.