Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 991 Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 991 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $522,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $925,662,000 after purchasing an additional 241,297 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,497,160,000 after buying an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. Adero Partners LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,052,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 6,720 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,319,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at about $67,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, March 10th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $527.87 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $481.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.00, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $582.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $545.38 and a 200 day moving average of $523.14.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.