Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Acquired by Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,352 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $9,664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter worth about $39,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 74.0% during the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MA. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Susquehanna raised their target price on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $562.76.

Mastercard Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of MA stock traded down $11.38 on Friday, hitting $504.26. 1,007,236 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,166,948. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $425.48 and a twelve month high of $537.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $462.83 billion, a PE ratio of 38.14, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $524.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $491.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

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

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management 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.