Wallington Asset Management LLC Sells 40 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Wallington Asset Management LLC cut its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 469 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 40 shares during the quarter. Wallington Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MA. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,971,020,000 after buying an additional 8,035,099 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in Mastercard by 51.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,846,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,965,782 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 3.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 700,769 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 453,773 shares during the period. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 52.8% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $573,017,000 after purchasing an additional 409,334 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE MA opened at $525.22 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $524.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $493.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $482.06 billion, a PE ratio of 39.73, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $427.45 and a fifty-two week high of $537.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

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

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $575.00 price target (up previously from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, November 15th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $566.63.

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.