Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA

Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA reduced its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,623 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 302 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 2.1% of Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $15,599,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank boosted its position in Mastercard by 7.4% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 167,963 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $82,940,000 after purchasing an additional 11,513 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 27.1% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,513 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,191,000 after acquiring an additional 2,239 shares during the period. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 261.1% in the 3rd quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,732,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV purchased a new position in Mastercard during the third quarter valued at $5,129,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.3% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 22,045 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,886,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $635.00 price objective (up previously from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 target price (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $599.42.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.9 %

Mastercard stock opened at $558.90 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $512.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $528.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $501.78. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $576.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.