Private Wealth Partners LLC Acquires 6,652 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Private Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 82.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,743 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,652 shares during the period. Private Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $8,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 2,954 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,686,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Able Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Able Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,855 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,772,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. now owns 1,089 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. 55 North Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $723,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 2,500 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.9%

MA stock opened at $516.53 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $480.50 and a twelve month high of $601.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The stock has a market cap of $460.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $509.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $539.32.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.82 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.52 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $739.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $685.00 to $655.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Macquarie Infrastructure upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Loop Capital initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $631.00 price target on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $662.00.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.