TriaGen Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

TriaGen Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 46.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,436 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,899 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises about 0.8% of TriaGen Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,385,383,000 after purchasing an additional 62,891 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 15.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 337,905 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised 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 valued at $194,141,000 after purchasing an additional 9,611 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $410,813,000 after purchasing an additional 37,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised 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 valued at $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $555.63 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $527.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $500.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $509.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.03, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $576.94.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. Research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 price target (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $595.64.

Mastercard 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.