Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,589,564 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $837,017,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of Mastercard as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 483.3% in the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 70 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $558.81 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The company has a market capitalization of $509.47 billion, a PE ratio of 40.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $544.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $519.64. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. Research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in 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 usually 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.