Highline Wealth Partners LLC Purchases 37 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 72.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $46,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Mastercard by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,425,665,000 after purchasing an additional 257,312 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,043,972,000 after buying an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,971,020,000 after buying an additional 8,035,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Mastercard by 4.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,501,814 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,800,836,000 after buying an additional 304,293 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock traded down $8.95 during trading on Friday, reaching $506.69. 1,281,543 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,203,917. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $425.48 and a 52-week high of $537.70. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $524.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $491.44. The company has a market capitalization of $465.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MA. Mizuho lifted their price target on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $562.76.

About Mastercard

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.