ERn Financial LLC Increases Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

ERn Financial LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 44.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 659 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the quarter. ERn Financial LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 8,035,099 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,846,187,000 after buying an additional 1,965,782 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after acquiring an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,043,972,000 after acquiring an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 52.8% in the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $573,017,000 after acquiring an additional 409,334 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $523.08 on Friday. 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 Incorporated has a twelve month low of $425.48 and a twelve month high of $537.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $480.10 billion, a PE ratio of 39.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $524.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $493.43.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.39 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.97%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $572.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.63.

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.