Cox Capital Mgt LLC Decreases Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Cox Capital Mgt LLC decreased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,104 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 37 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises approximately 2.4% of Cox Capital Mgt LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Cox Capital Mgt LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 70.5% during the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 9,688 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,274,000 after acquiring an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 37,608.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 337,487 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $148,886,000 after purchasing an additional 336,592 shares during the last quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 5.3% during the second quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC now owns 11,897 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,249,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter worth $268,000. Finally, Excalibur Management Corp grew its holdings in Mastercard by 6.7% in the second quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 3,056 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MA. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $575.00 target price (up previously from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $566.63.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $508.49 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $466.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $524.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $493.23. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $425.48 and a fifty-two week high of $537.70. 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 (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board 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.