Whitener Capital Management Inc. Has $1.24 Million Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Whitener Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 29.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,350 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Whitener Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,237,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 73.1% in the fourth quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,864 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $982,000 after acquiring an additional 787 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 21,207 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $11,167,000 after purchasing an additional 4,434 shares during the period. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,694 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,472,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 3,685 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,941,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,300,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MA shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective 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 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $566.63.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MA traded up $2.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $525.22. The company had a trading volume of 2,373,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,205,146. The stock has a market cap of $482.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.73, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. The company's fifty day moving average price is $524.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $494.24. 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 Incorporated has a 12 month low of $427.45 and a 12 month high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.39 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

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

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a stock 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 reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors 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.