Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Holdings Raised by United Asset Strategies Inc.

United Asset Strategies Inc. increased its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 38,233 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 624 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 1.8% of United Asset Strategies Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $20,132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,385,383,000 after buying an additional 62,891 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,325,353,000 after acquiring an additional 337,905 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $194,141,000 after acquiring an additional 9,611 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% during the third quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $410,813,000 after purchasing an additional 37,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on MA. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $567.29.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $533.50 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $524.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $497.46. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $537.70. 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 company has a market cap of $489.66 billion, a PE ratio of 40.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10.

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

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders 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 of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

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.