Novare Capital Management LLC Buys New Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Novare Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 385 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Clarendon Private LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $1,411,000. Affinity Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Affinity Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,026 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,439,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,723 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,173,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,108,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KFG Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,251 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $659,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $533.50 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $489.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $524.77 and a 200 day moving average of $497.46. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $428.86 and a 12 month high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.39 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in 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 an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $567.29.

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.