Drive Wealth Management LLC Acquires 32 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,563 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kathmere Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $665,000. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% in the second quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,167 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $956,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 10.6% in the second quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,832 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,132,000 after buying an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.3% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 25,565 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,278,000 after buying an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviso Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.4% in the second quarter. Aviso Wealth Management now owns 1,925 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $849,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $575.00 to $591.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $567.29.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $533.50 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $537.70. The stock has a market cap of $489.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s fifty day moving average is $524.77 and its 200 day moving average is $497.46.

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

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders 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 represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

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.