Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 2,077 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 81.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,636 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,077 shares during the quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Veery Capital LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Veery Capital LLC now owns 1,421 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 1,634 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $832,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $215,000. Smith Salley Wealth Management lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 49,076 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $25,842,000 after acquiring an additional 928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Square Capital LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 59.4% during the 4th quarter. Jackson Square Capital LLC now owns 8,203 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,319,000 after acquiring an additional 3,056 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on MA shares. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $566.63.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $525.22 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $524.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $494.24. 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 Incorporated has a 12-month low of $427.45 and a 12-month high of $537.70. The company has a market cap of $482.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.73, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership 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.