Decker Retirement Planning Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 895 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $471,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 74.0% during the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on MA shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Mastercard from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $566.63.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Mastercard stock traded up $2.74 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $525.88. The company had a trading volume of 1,597,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,571,163. 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 company's 50-day moving average is $524.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $493.43. The company has a market cap of $482.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $427.45 and a twelve month high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.39 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. 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. Mastercard's payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

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.