South Shore Capital Advisors Takes Position in Mastercard Incorporated $MA

South Shore Capital Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,723 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $984,000. Mastercard comprises about 0.7% of South Shore Capital Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Robbins Farley boosted its position in Mastercard by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 54 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 250.0% during the 3rd quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Tacita Capital Inc boosted its position in Mastercard by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 57 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, Sagard Holdings Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $501.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $515.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $543.70. The stock has a market cap of $446.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.33, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.83. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $465.59 and a 1-year high of $601.77.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.52. The company had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MA. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $730.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $700.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. HSBC raised shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Macquarie Infrastructure upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $668.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $664.40.

About Mastercard

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.