Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by Steph & Co.

Steph & Co. lessened its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 52.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 71 shares during the quarter. Steph & Co.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $34,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% during the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,385,383,000 after buying an additional 62,891 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Mastercard by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,325,353,000 after acquiring an additional 337,905 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its holdings in Mastercard by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $410,813,000 after acquiring an additional 37,486 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $194,141,000 after purchasing an additional 9,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price target on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $566.63.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA stock opened at $523.08 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $524.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $493.43. The company has a market capitalization of $480.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.57, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. 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 fifty-two week low of $425.48 and a fifty-two week high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.97%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.