Claro Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Claro Advisors LLC cut its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,919 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 502 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,064,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fulcrum Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Fulcrum Capital LLC now owns 29,631 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $15,603,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC now owns 470 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group lifted its position in Mastercard by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 3,733 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,966,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in Mastercard by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 10,368 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,233,000 after acquiring an additional 854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westmount Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $504.79. 1,969,634 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,394,476. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $425.48 and a 1-year high of $537.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $463.31 billion, a PE ratio of 38.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $524.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $492.31.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This is a boost 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 dividend yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $575.00 target price (up previously from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.13.

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.