Zhang Financial LLC Purchases 89 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Zhang Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,730 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the quarter. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $911,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Mastercard by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,846,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,043,972,000 after buying an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 52.8% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $573,017,000 after buying an additional 409,334 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $525.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $524.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $494.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $482.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $427.45 and a 1 year high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan 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 buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four equities 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $566.63.

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.