Claro Advisors LLC Trims Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Claro Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,919 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 502 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and 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 worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 74.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group raised their price target 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. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $575.00 price objective (up from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $566.13.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.0 %

MA stock traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $504.79. 1,969,634 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,394,476. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $524.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $492.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $463.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.18, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $425.48 and a 12-month high of $537.70. 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 (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes 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 management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 23.00%.

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.