Mastercard hikes dividend by 16.3%

On December 6, 2022, Mastercard Inc. (MA) announced that it will raise its quarterly dividend by 16.3 percent to 57 cents per share. This marks 10 consecutive years of dividend growth for MA and follows a dividend hike of 11.4% in 2021.

The cash dividend will be paid on February 9, 2023 to holders of record of its Class A common stock and Class B common stock as of January 9, 2023. The dividend yield for MA is 0.7% at a stock price of $347.

The Board of Directors also approved a new share repurchase program, authorizing the company to repurchase up to $9 billion of its Class A common stock. The new share repurchase program will become effective at the completion of the company’s previously announced $8 billion program (November 2021). As of December 1, 2022, the company had approximately $4.1 billion remaining under the current approved share repurchase program.

Mastercard is a technology company in the global payments industry that connects consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments, digital partners, businesses and other organizations worldwide, enabling them to use electronic forms of payment instead of cash and checks. The company provides a wide variety of integrated products and services that support payment products that customers can offer to their account holders. The company's brands include MasterCard, Maestro and Cirrus. Mastercard has paid a dividend every year since 2006.