Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,796 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 12,522.2% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 55,790 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 55,348 shares during the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 6.5% in the second quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 1,306 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $576,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $277,000. X Square Capital LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 2.3% during the second quarter. X Square Capital LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonekeep Investments LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter worth approximately $316,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MA. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $572.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Macquarie upped their price target on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $562.76.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.5 %

MA stock traded up $2.55 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $514.48. 764,638 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,027,347. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $523.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $490.70. The company has a market capitalization of $472.21 billion, a PE ratio of 38.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $416.53 and a twelve month high of $537.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

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