Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV Invests $205,000 in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV bought a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 389 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 11,513 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 27.1% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,513 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,191,000 after buying an additional 2,239 shares during the last quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 261.1% in the 3rd quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,732,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,129,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 22,045 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,886,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $564.48 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The company has a market capitalization of $518.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.64, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $528.28 and a 200 day moving average of $501.78. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $428.86 and a 12 month high of $576.94.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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 given a $0.76 dividend. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MA shares. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday. DZ Bank upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $599.42.

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.