Canopy Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Canopy Partners LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,566 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 0.9% of Canopy Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Canopy Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,404,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Elgethun Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 822 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Polymer Capital Management US LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $201,000. Trek Financial LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Trek Financial LLC now owns 2,539 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,337,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,267,937 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,725,627,000 after acquiring an additional 912,856 shares during the period. Finally, Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,360 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,822,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Trading Down 7.7 %

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $489.94 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $550.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $528.50. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $582.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $446.68 billion, a PE ratio of 35.27, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts forecast 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 issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.89%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total value of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.