Korea Investment CORP Sells 90,156 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Korea Investment CORP reduced its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 12.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 646,958 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 90,156 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 0.8% of Korea Investment CORP’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.07% of Mastercard worth $340,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 65 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MA shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Macquarie lifted their target price on Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $549.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $500.64 billion, a PE ratio of 39.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $582.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $549.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $526.06.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.