5,425 Shares in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Acquired by Platinum Investment Management Ltd.

Platinum Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 5,425 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MA. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 51.7% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,846,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $837,017,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 79,739.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,555,277 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $818,962,000 after buying an additional 1,553,329 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $10,545,139,000 after buying an additional 700,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,899,438 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,532,541,000 after purchasing an additional 565,717 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $530.21 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $582.23. The firm has a market cap of $483.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $546.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $523.83.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 21.89%.

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

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.