Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,494 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $16,058,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in Mastercard by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,425,665,000 after buying an additional 257,312 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% in the third 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 8,035,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,501,814 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,800,836,000 after purchasing an additional 304,293 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on MA shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $567.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $536.33 and a 200-day moving average of $511.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $521.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.89, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $576.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.98 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 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 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard 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.