Innova Wealth Partners Takes Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Innova Wealth Partners bought a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 380 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldstein Advisors LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $749,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 2,190 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% in the third quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $690,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,055 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% in the third quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, November 25th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $562.76.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $511.89 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $469.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.72, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $416.53 and a fifty-two week high of $537.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $523.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $491.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. 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 dividend yield of 0.59%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Company 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.