Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC Sells 98 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC decreased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,306 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 98 shares during the period. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter worth about $35,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $566.13.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Mastercard stock traded down $1.02 during trading on Monday, hitting $503.65. 1,280,005 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,293,949. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $425.48 and a 52-week high of $537.70. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $524.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $492.31. The firm has a market cap of $462.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is an increase 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 presently 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.