Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Sells 94 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC lowered its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 463 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 94 shares during the quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 167,963 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $82,940,000 after buying an additional 11,513 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 17.0% in the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 7,988 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,944,000 after acquiring an additional 1,159 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 1.0% in the third quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 64,154 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,679,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.2% during the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 3,068 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 895 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 price objective (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $603.08.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $559.21 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $529.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $502.60. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-year high of $576.94. The firm has a market cap of $513.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. Equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally 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.