Board of the Pension Protection Fund Makes New $895,000 Investment in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,700 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $895,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in Mastercard by 70.5% in the second quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 9,688 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,274,000 after acquiring an additional 4,005 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 37,608.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 337,487 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $148,886,000 after purchasing an additional 336,592 shares in the last quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC now owns 11,897 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,249,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the period. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. bought a new stake in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at about $268,000. Finally, Excalibur Management Corp grew its holdings in Mastercard by 6.7% during the second quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 3,056 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA opened at $508.49 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $524.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $493.23. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $425.48 and a fifty-two week high of $537.70. The company has a market cap of $466.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.39 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.