Sunflower Bank N.A. Purchases 76 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,728 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MA. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 25.7% during the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 4,678 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,064,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares during the period. Lyell Wealth Management LP increased its holdings in Mastercard by 19.4% during the second quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 13,749 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,065,000 after buying an additional 2,235 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,402,000. MayTech Global Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. MayTech Global Investments LLC now owns 65,736 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $29,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter worth $5,102,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MA traded up $0.60 during trading on Monday, reaching $505.27. The stock had a trading volume of 2,885,169 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,533,762. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $524.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $492.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $425.48 and a one year high of $537.70. The company has a market capitalization of $463.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.22, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MA. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $566.13.

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.