Impact Capital Partners LLC Buys New Shares in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Impact Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,320 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,222,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Mastercard by 14.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $925,662,000 after purchasing an additional 241,297 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,497,160,000 after purchasing an additional 138,842 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,832 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,374,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,733 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,325,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 419,029 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $206,916,000 after acquiring an additional 8,021 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MA shares. Jefferies Financial 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 Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 target price (up from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Macquarie lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.2 %

MA stock opened at $524.69 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $545.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $522.05. The company has a market cap of $478.36 billion, a PE ratio of 37.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback 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 purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are 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.