Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC Has $692,000 Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,314 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Mastercard by 51.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,846,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $837,017,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 79,739.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,555,277 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $818,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553,329 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in Mastercard by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,899,438 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,532,541,000 after purchasing an additional 565,717 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $635.00 price objective (up previously from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of MA opened at $546.98 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $545.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $521.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $582.23. The company has a market cap of $498.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.38, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership 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.