Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV Has $284,000 Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 539 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 28 shares during the quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,846,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $837,017,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 79,739.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,555,277 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $818,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553,329 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,899,438 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,532,541,000 after purchasing an additional 565,717 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $535.93 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $582.23. The stock has a market cap of $488.61 billion, a PE ratio of 38.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $546.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $523.92.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 price objective (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Four equities 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.11.

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.