LVW Advisors LLC Has $3.65 Million Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

LVW Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,925 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 421 shares during the quarter. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at $55,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MA. Barclays upped their price objective on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.63.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.4 %

Mastercard stock opened at $525.22 on Monday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $524.28 and a 200-day moving average of $494.59. The company has a market cap of $482.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $427.45 and a one year high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.39 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.97%.

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