Capital Investment Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 19.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,447 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,696 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd raised its stake in Mastercard by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,385,383,000 after acquiring an additional 62,891 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Mastercard by 15.6% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 337,905 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $410,813,000 after acquiring an additional 37,486 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 4.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,497,160,000 after purchasing an additional 138,842 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA traded up $3.58 on Tuesday, reaching $508.49. The company had a trading volume of 2,704,749 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,555,173. The stock has a market capitalization of $466.71 billion, a PE ratio of 38.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $425.48 and a 1 year high of $537.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $524.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $492.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The business 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 company posted $3.39 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are 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. This is a boost from Mastercard's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard's payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $575.00 target price (up previously from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned 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 $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.