Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Purchased by Sax Wealth Advisors LLC

Sax Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 73.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,864 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 787 shares during the period. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MA. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 21,207 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,167,000 after acquiring an additional 4,434 shares during the last quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,694 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,472,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 3,685 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,941,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,300,000. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 6,607 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,479,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $572.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.63.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $525.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $482.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $524.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $493.64. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $427.45 and a 52-week high of $537.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.39 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $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 0.58%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

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

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.