One Capital Management LLC Decreases Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

One Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,611 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,270 shares during the quarter. One Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $837,017,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $237,000. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Mastercard by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 239,800 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $126,271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,471 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,620,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 51.6% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,954 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MA. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 target price (up from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer cut their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $558.81 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $509.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $544.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $519.64. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $582.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. Equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.89%.

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.