American Century Companies Inc. Boosts Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 12.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,079,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 581,697 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for 1.5% of American Century Companies Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.55% of Mastercard worth $2,674,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 65 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 483.3% during the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 70 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $535.14 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $582.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $487.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.53, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $547.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $524.36.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program 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 reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MA. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. DZ Bank upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.