Fortitude Family Office LLC Reduces Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Fortitude Family Office LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 597 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 39 shares during the quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Macquarie raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $572.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $562.76.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $516.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company has a market cap of $473.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.04, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $524.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $491.44. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $418.54 and a 52-week high of $537.70.

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, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS 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 is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are 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.