Aspiriant LLC Has $1.60 Million Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Aspiriant LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,045 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the quarter. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,603,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Goldstein Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the third quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $749,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. grew 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 in the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,055 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Traveka Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA opened at $525.22 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $524.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $494.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $427.45 and a 52 week high of $537.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $482.06 billion, a PE ratio of 39.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program 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 programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MA. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Macquarie increased their target price on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.63.

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.