Ninety One SA PTY Ltd Grows Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Ninety One SA PTY Ltd boosted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,609 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 115 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for approximately 1.7% of Ninety One SA PTY Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MA. State Street Corp grew its position in Mastercard by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,425,665,000 after acquiring an additional 257,312 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,043,972,000 after purchasing an additional 453,773 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after purchasing an additional 8,035,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,501,814 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,800,836,000 after buying an additional 304,293 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on MA shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $603.08.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA opened at $559.21 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $529.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $502.60. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-year high of $576.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $513.26 billion, a PE ratio of 40.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Mastercard

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.