Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 253 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 28.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,131 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FCG Investment Co increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 4,796 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,525,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the period. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Apeiron RIA LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Apeiron RIA LLC now owns 555 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 2,599 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,369,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 62.8% during the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 770 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $533.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $489.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $537.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $524.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $496.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.39 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. 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 currently 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MA. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, November 25th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $566.63.

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.