Sage Private Wealth Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Sage Private Wealth Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 796 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 22 shares during the quarter. Sage Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,971,020,000 after buying an additional 8,035,099 shares during the period. 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 acquiring an additional 1,965,782 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,043,972,000 after purchasing an additional 453,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $573,017,000 after purchasing an additional 409,334 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upped their target price on Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $603.08.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $564.79 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $532.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $507.00. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $576.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $518.38 billion, a PE ratio of 40.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

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