Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC

Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC lowered its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 79.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 105 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 396 shares during the period. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $55,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 80,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $35,584,000 after acquiring an additional 3,473 shares in the last quarter. Blue Whale Capital LLP grew its holdings in Mastercard by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Whale Capital LLP now owns 127,250 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $56,138,000 after purchasing an additional 4,750 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Mastercard by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 142,002 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $62,646,000 after purchasing an additional 5,158 shares in the last quarter. Investidor Profissional Gestao de Recursos Ltda. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Investidor Profissional Gestao de Recursos Ltda. now owns 24,146 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,652,000 after purchasing an additional 1,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 14,949 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,595,000 after acquiring an additional 1,549 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. 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. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $566.63.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.4 %

Mastercard stock opened at $525.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $482.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.73, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $524.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $494.24. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $427.45 and a 52 week high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.39 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Company 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.