Saiph Capital LLC Purchases 76 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Saiph Capital LLC boosted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 944 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Saiph Capital LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Mastercard by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,425,665,000 after acquiring an additional 257,312 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 700,769 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% during 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 buying an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% during 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 buying an additional 304,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,308,684 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,115,228,000 after buying an additional 64,456 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 price objective (up from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $530.21 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $546.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $523.83. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $582.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $483.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.17, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 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 purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Mastercard

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.