Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. Buys 48 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,662 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $875,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MA. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% in the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,385,383,000 after acquiring an additional 62,891 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,325,353,000 after buying an additional 337,905 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $194,141,000 after buying an additional 9,611 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% in the third quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $410,813,000 after buying an additional 37,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,474,151,000 after buying an additional 100,550 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $595.64.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $555.63 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $428.86 and a 12 month high of $576.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $527.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $500.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm has a market cap of $509.97 billion, a PE ratio of 42.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. Equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.