Maripau Wealth Management LLC Invests $209,000 in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Maripau Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 397 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Terril Brothers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $264,000. Bank OZK boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank OZK now owns 9,574 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,041,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 4,014 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,114,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Maple Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 77,340 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,725,000 after buying an additional 1,284 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Investment Counsel LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $334,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 price objective (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $576.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $525.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $576.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50-day moving average of $542.83 and a 200-day moving average of $517.61.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 21.89%.

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