Willner & Heller LLC Purchases 41 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Willner & Heller LLC grew its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 862 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the quarter. Willner & Heller LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 80,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $35,584,000 after buying an additional 3,473 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Mastercard by 3.8% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 142,002 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $62,646,000 after acquiring an additional 5,158 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 39,540 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,444,000 after acquiring an additional 5,160 shares in the last quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 666 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 185,523 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $81,845,000 after purchasing an additional 4,814 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on MA shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.63.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $525.22 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $524.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $494.59. The company has a market capitalization of $482.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $427.45 and a fifty-two week high of $537.70. 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 (NYSE:MA) last posted 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. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 19.97%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication 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.