PDS Planning Inc Buys 63 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

PDS Planning Inc increased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,399 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MA. Swedbank AB grew its position in Mastercard by 14.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $925,662,000 after acquiring an additional 241,297 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 4.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,497,160,000 after acquiring an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 0.5% during the third quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 41,799 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $20,641,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 0.8% during the third quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 8,144 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,021,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aljian Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,506,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $532.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $485.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.35, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $545.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $523.50. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 price objective (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $635.00 price objective (up previously from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.11.

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.