Peddock Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Peddock Capital Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,722 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 119 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises approximately 1.1% of Peddock Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Goldstein Advisors LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. raised its position 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 during the period. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC boosted its position in 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 valued at $690,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp increased its position in Mastercard by 1.3% in the third quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $834,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays raised their target price on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.13.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of MA opened at $505.27 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $524.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $492.75. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $463.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $425.48 and a 1-year high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.