Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Acquired by Fermata Advisors LLC

Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 123.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,554 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 860 shares during the period. Fermata Advisors LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $819,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the third quarter worth $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 74.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at $55,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Mastercard from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $566.63.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock traded up $2.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $525.22. The company had a trading volume of 2,373,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,646,914. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $427.45 and a 12-month high of $537.70. The company has a market capitalization of $482.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. 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 firm's fifty day simple moving average is $524.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $493.64.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is an increase from Mastercard's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Mastercard's payout ratio is 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its board 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 repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Company 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.