MBE Wealth Management LLC Sells 99 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

MBE Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 995 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 99 shares during the quarter. MBE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. VCI Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,703 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,003,000 after buying an additional 1,218 shares in the last quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC now owns 1,004 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,292 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,260,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 594 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Bank grew its stake in Mastercard by 55.0% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 2,784 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,466,000 after purchasing an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $547.53 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $524.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $497.91. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $547.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $502.53 billion, a PE ratio of 41.42, 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock 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 buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Mizuho raised their price target on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price target on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $567.29.

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.