Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Position Raised by Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.

Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 26.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,497 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,758 shares during the period. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,474,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 483.3% in the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 70 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 72.5% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 88 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA stock opened at $576.08 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $525.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $542.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $518.02. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $576.94.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

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.