OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Has $29.67 Million Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 56,279 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $29,668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MA. Swedbank AB boosted its position in Mastercard by 14.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $925,662,000 after purchasing an additional 241,297 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,497,160,000 after buying an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 42.8% in the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 938 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $463,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 0.5% in the third quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,227 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,050,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, St. Louis Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $202,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.3 %

MA opened at $530.21 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $546.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $523.83. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $582.23. The stock has a market cap of $483.40 billion, a PE ratio of 38.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on MA shares. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 price objective (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna increased their price target on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie increased 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have 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 price target of $606.11.

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.