Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Buys 515 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 76,475 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 515 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for approximately 0.7% of Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $40,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. D Orazio & Associates Inc. raised its position in Mastercard by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 1,431 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $754,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 76,182 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,115,000 after buying an additional 7,223 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,504 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,116,000 after buying an additional 6,422 shares during the period. Apollon Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 41.4% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 769 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MWA Asset Management lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 2,003 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $562.55 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $531.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $504.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $576.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $516.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced 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 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MA. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $603.08.

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.