Avestar Capital LLC Has $2.96 Million Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Avestar Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,612 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 550 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% in the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,385,383,000 after acquiring an additional 62,891 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $194,141,000 after purchasing an additional 9,611 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,325,353,000 after purchasing an additional 337,905 shares during the period. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $35,932,000 after purchasing an additional 2,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MA. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 price objective (up from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie upped their target price on Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $603.08.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $564.33 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $533.94 and its 200 day moving average is $508.28. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $576.94. The stock has a market cap of $517.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.63, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

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, 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a stock 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 reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

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.