Unique Wealth LLC Grows Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Unique Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,720 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Unique Wealth LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $505.27 on Tuesday. 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 $463.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $524.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $492.75. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $425.48 and a fifty-two week high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

Mastercard announced 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 buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on MA shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $575.00 target price (up from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $566.13.

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.