Catalina Capital Group LLC Has $1.87 Million Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Catalina Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,546 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% in the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,385,383,000 after buying an additional 62,891 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Mastercard by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,325,353,000 after acquiring an additional 337,905 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $194,141,000 after acquiring an additional 9,611 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $410,813,000 after purchasing an additional 37,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 target price (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday. Macquarie boosted their price target on Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Seaport Res Ptn cut Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $595.64.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of MA opened at $555.63 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $576.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $509.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.00, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $528.28 and a 200-day moving average of $501.43.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm 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 0.55%. 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 payout ratio is presently 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans 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.