Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Bought by Acorn Creek Capital LLC

Acorn Creek Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 594 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Acorn Creek Capital LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 440.2% in the second quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,743 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,092,000 after buying an additional 3,865 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 9,222 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,069,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 14.0% during the second quarter. Invst LLC now owns 829 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter worth $147,000. Finally, Wallace Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 8.5% during the second quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,550 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MA shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Macquarie upped their price objective on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $575.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $567.29.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $547.53 on Tuesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $502.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $524.77 and a 200-day moving average of $497.91. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $547.99.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. This is a positive change 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 23.00%.

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.