Clear Creek Financial Management LLC Raises Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Clear Creek Financial Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 127.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,416 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,911 shares during the quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Mastercard by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,425,665,000 after purchasing an additional 257,312 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after buying an additional 700,769 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,043,972,000 after buying an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,971,020,000 after buying an additional 8,035,099 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,501,814 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,800,836,000 after acquiring an additional 304,293 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.8 %

Mastercard stock opened at $555.63 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $428.86 and a 12 month high of $576.94. The company has a market capitalization of $509.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $527.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $500.25. 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 results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan 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 purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. 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. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Macquarie upped their target price on Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $595.64.

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.