Wealthspire Advisors LLC Acquires 544 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,471 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 544 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $8,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MA. Bank of Montreal Can boosted 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 purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares in the last quarter. 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 boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 453,773 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $573,017,000 after purchasing an additional 409,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 214.7% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 535,503 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $264,431,000 after purchasing an additional 365,324 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $557.44 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $576.94. The company has a market cap of $508.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $538.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $513.78.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.