Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Acquired by Diversify Wealth Management LLC

Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 29.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,453 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,406 shares during the quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,971,020,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $9,043,972,000 after buying an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 52.8% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $573,017,000 after buying an additional 409,334 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Mastercard from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $566.63.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA traded up $2.08 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $525.22. 2,373,992 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,205,146. The company has a market capitalization of $482.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.73, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $524.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $494.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $427.45 and a 52-week high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted 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 analysts' expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.39 EPS. Mastercard's revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This is an increase from Mastercard's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is 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.