International Assets Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

International Assets Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 99.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,718 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 8,025,040 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $8,733,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Goldstein Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 1.3% in the third quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $749,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.9% in the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 2,190 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,081,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% during the third quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $690,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,055 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MA. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $562.76.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE MA traded up $3.36 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $514.76. The stock had a trading volume of 310,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,958,878. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $523.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $491.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $418.54 and a fifty-two week high of $537.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $472.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.94, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Company 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.