Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Lowers Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lowered its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 40,475 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 733 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $21,313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 4.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,497,160,000 after buying an additional 138,842 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 2,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,470,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth $1,540,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 49.3% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,215 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 2.5% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,117,490 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,033,217,000 after purchasing an additional 99,145 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.5 %

MA opened at $543.82 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $548.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $525.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $495.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.15, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $582.23. 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 (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on MA shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $3,813,337.76. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.