Sargent Investment Group LLC Has $6.24 Million Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 29.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,363 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,837 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 1.0% of Sargent Investment Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Sargent Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MA. Czech National Bank increased its stake in Mastercard by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 167,963 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $82,940,000 after purchasing an additional 11,513 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 17.0% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 7,988 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,944,000 after buying an additional 1,159 shares during the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 64,154 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,679,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the period. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 3,068 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,515,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Mastercard by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 895 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MA. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $635.00 price objective (up previously from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $603.08.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.8 %

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

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 21.89%.

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.