Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,207 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after buying an additional 8,035,099 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,846,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,965,782 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after acquiring an additional 700,769 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,043,972,000 after purchasing an additional 453,773 shares during the period. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 52.8% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $573,017,000 after purchasing an additional 409,334 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MA. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. DZ Bank upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays increased their price target on Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Macquarie increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $603.08.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $562.55 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $531.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $505.53. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $576.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The company has a market capitalization of $516.33 billion, a PE ratio of 40.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan 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 purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.89%.

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.