Middleton & Co. Inc. MA Boosts Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA raised its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 12.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,648 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Mastercard by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $925,662,000 after acquiring an additional 241,297 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 773 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $109,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 34,018 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $16,798,000 after acquiring an additional 2,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in Mastercard by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 89,267 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $44,080,000 after buying an additional 2,033 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MA shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Mastercard from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $576.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $542.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $517.21. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $576.94. The firm has a market cap of $525.22 billion, a PE ratio of 41.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.