Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Purchased by Pensionfund Sabic

Pensionfund Sabic increased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 40.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises 1.2% of Pensionfund Sabic’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Pensionfund Sabic’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of 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 boosted its stake in Mastercard by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 52.8% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $573,017,000 after buying an additional 409,334 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MA. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $562.76.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.4 %

MA traded down $2.29 on Monday, reaching $519.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 704,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,655,266. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $416.53 and a 1 year high of $537.70. The business’s 50 day moving average is $523.58 and its 200 day moving average is $490.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $476.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors 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.