Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Purchases 3,216 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 47.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,048 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,216 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Mastercard by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $17,425,665,000 after purchasing an additional 257,312 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 3.4% during the third 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $9,043,972,000 after acquiring an additional 453,773 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,501,814 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,800,836,000 after acquiring an additional 304,293 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,308,684 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,115,228,000 after acquiring an additional 64,456 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given 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 Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE MA traded down $2.84 on Friday, hitting $546.98. 3,161,263 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,646,326. The firm has a market capitalization of $498.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.38, 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company's 50 day moving average price is $545.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $520.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.56%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board 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.