Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Bought by Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,472 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,452 shares during the quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $37,108,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MA. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 5.8% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 205,594 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $101,523,000 after acquiring an additional 11,331 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 14.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $925,662,000 after acquiring an additional 241,297 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,351 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,148,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 24,428 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $12,063,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at $233,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:MA opened at $564.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $518.36 billion, a PE ratio of 40.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $576.94. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $534.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $508.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its 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 net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

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.