Kovack Advisors Inc. Buys 304 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,853 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 483.3% in the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 70 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $54,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:MA opened at $560.86 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $511.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.38, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-year high of $576.94. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $541.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $516.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 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 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.89%.

Mastercard Company 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.