Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC Sells 1,000 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC trimmed its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,850 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $10,979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 454,183 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $200,368,000 after buying an additional 79,418 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,082,729 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,241,297,000 after acquiring an additional 71,569 shares during the period. Dundas Partners LLP bought a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at about $19,614,000. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth approximately $1,826,000. Finally, Delta Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 2,626 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.5 %

MA opened at $535.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $537.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $491.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $524.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $496.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.39 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MA. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $567.29.

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.