Hemington Wealth Management Increases Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Hemington Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,051 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 52 shares during the quarter. Hemington Wealth Management’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,080,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Mastercard by 0.7% during the 3rd 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 grew its holdings in Mastercard by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 8,035,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 target price (up from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $603.08.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE MA opened at $564.33 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $533.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $507.89. The stock has a market cap of $517.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $576.94. 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 (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

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

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.