Hager Investment Management Services LLC Makes New $142,000 Investment in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 270 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $142,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MA. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 7.4% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 167,963 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $82,940,000 after acquiring an additional 11,513 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 17.0% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 7,988 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,944,000 after acquiring an additional 1,159 shares during the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% during the third quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 64,154 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,679,000 after acquiring an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.2% during the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 3,068 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 12.0% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 895 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $559.21 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $513.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.26, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $576.94. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $529.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $502.60.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on MA. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $603.08.

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.