Founders Capital Management Sells 100 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Founders Capital Management cut its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 14.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 590 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Founders Capital Management’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth $34,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% during the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.13.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA traded up $0.11 on Monday, hitting $504.78. 1,407,595 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,317,929. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The business’s fifty day moving average is $524.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $492.31. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $425.48 and a 12 month high of $537.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $463.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.18, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually 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.