Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by Asset Dedication LLC

Asset Dedication LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 28.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,042 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,416 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MA. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,425,665,000 after purchasing an additional 257,312 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% in 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 lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $9,043,972,000 after purchasing an additional 453,773 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in 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 worth $3,971,020,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Mastercard by 4.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,501,814 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,800,836,000 after acquiring an additional 304,293 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $575.00 to $591.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $567.29.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $547.61 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $502.61 billion, a PE ratio of 41.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $525.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $499.45. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-year high of $551.55.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The company 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 was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.39 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign 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.