Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC Acquires 40 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,984 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank raised its position in Mastercard by 7.4% in 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 during the last quarter. City Holding Co. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% in the third quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 20,075 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,913,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in Mastercard by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,390 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,143,000 after buying an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Talbot Financial LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 16,262 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,030,000 after acquiring an additional 767 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.6% in the third quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,541 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,248,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on MA shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho increased their target price on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $603.08.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $566.05 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $428.86 and a 12 month high of $576.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $529.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $503.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $519.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.75, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

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

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board 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.