Whipplewood Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 376 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $198,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 483.3% during the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 70 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on MA. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE MA opened at $564.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $515.03 billion, a PE ratio of 40.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $576.94. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $541.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $516.37.

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

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.89%.

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.