415 Shares in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Purchased by Beacon Financial Advisory LLC

Beacon Financial Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 415 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,390 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,143,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,097 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,998,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 5.6% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 57,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $28,604,000 after buying an additional 3,089 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 14.3% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 704 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 1.9% during the third quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 2,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,438,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $567.12 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $520.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.83, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $576.94. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $530.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $503.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program 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 purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 target price (up from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their price target on Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $603.08.

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.