Tortoise Investment Management LLC Has $172,000 Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 16.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 326 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MA. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 14.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $925,662,000 after purchasing an additional 241,297 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,497,160,000 after purchasing an additional 138,842 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 43.3% during the third quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 993 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $491,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 77.4% during the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 1,783 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $880,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 32.5% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 853 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of MA opened at $535.80 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $582.23. The firm has a market cap of $488.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $545.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $521.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows 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 leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of several research reports. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $635.00 price objective (up from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.11.

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.