Sax Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Sax Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 73.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,864 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 787 shares during the period. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $982,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the third quarter worth about $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Four 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $566.63.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE MA traded up $2.08 on Friday, reaching $525.22. 2,373,992 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,205,146. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The business's fifty day moving average price is $524.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $494.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $482.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $427.45 and a fifty-two week high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.39 earnings per share. Mastercard's quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

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

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