Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Purchases 3,536 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 53.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,180 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,536 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% during the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,385,383,000 after buying an additional 62,891 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Mastercard by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,325,353,000 after acquiring an additional 337,905 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $194,141,000 after acquiring an additional 9,611 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $410,813,000 after acquiring an additional 37,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA traded up $2.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $525.22. The stock had a trading volume of 2,373,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,205,146. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $524.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $494.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $482.06 billion, a price-to-earnings 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. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $427.45 and a one year 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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group raised 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $566.63.

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.