Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Purchased by Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC

Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,686 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $888,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 440.2% in the second quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,743 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,092,000 after buying an additional 3,865 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 9,222 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,069,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Invst LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 829 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $147,000. Finally, Wallace Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,550 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie boosted their price target on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $567.29.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $547.53 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $547.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $524.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $497.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $502.53 billion, a PE ratio of 41.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.39 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

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.