Carr Financial Group Corp Purchases 36 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Carr Financial Group Corp grew its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,385 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 35.7% during the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,794 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,438,000 after acquiring an additional 2,052 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 3,414.9% during the 2nd quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 59,226 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $26,128,000 after acquiring an additional 57,541 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 2,861.1% during the 2nd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,193 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,938,000 after acquiring an additional 10,815 shares during the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 91.6% during the 2nd quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 5,171 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,281,000 after acquiring an additional 2,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First County Bank CT grew its position in Mastercard by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 1,823 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $804,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $533.50 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $524.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $496.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $489.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.36, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $537.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.39 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 0.57%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. Citigroup raised their price target on Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $567.29.

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.