Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Bought by Lazari Capital Management Inc.

Lazari Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,884 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Lazari Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,951 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,134,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Financial Partners Group Inc purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $212,000. Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 3,546 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,867,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $670,000. Finally, Means Investment CO. Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 1,834 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $966,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MA shares. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $595.64.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $555.63 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $509.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $528.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $501.78. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $576.94.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS 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, analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Company 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.