D.B. Root & Company LLC Buys 78 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

D.B. Root & Company LLC raised its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,763 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 6.1% during the second quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,789 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,095,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 53.4% during the second quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 1,043,557 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $460,376,000 after buying an additional 363,133 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in Mastercard by 160.0% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 19,900 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,779,000 after acquiring an additional 12,246 shares during the period. Point72 Europe London LLP raised its holdings in Mastercard by 60.9% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 21,400 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,441,000 after acquiring an additional 8,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 34,047 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $15,020,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $575.00 target price (up from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Macquarie upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $566.63.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $527.02 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $537.70. The firm has a market cap of $483.72 billion, a PE ratio of 39.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $524.27 and its 200-day moving average is $496.23.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.