GAMMA Investing LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 19.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,514 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,001 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 0.6% of GAMMA Investing LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MA. Goldstein Advisors LLC grew 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 buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 2,190 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,081,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC grew 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 worth $690,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in Mastercard by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oldfather Financial Services LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oldfather Financial Services LLC now owns 827 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho increased their target price on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $562.76.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $522.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $416.53 and a 12-month high of $537.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $523.06 and a 200-day moving average of $488.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $479.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its 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 return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.00%.

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

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.