Foster Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Foster Group Inc. raised its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,003 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $528,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MA. Invst LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 14.0% during the second quarter. Invst LLC now owns 829 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth $147,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,355 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,215,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 9.7% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 386 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 33.0% during the second quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,323 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $584,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $567.29.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.0 %

MA stock opened at $547.61 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $551.55. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $525.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $498.70. The company has a market cap of $502.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.42, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.39 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 23.00%.

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