Clarius Group LLC Has $4.04 Million Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Clarius Group LLC cut its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 25.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,667 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 2,633 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MA. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 80,661 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $35,584,000 after buying an additional 3,473 shares during the last quarter. Blue Whale Capital LLP increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.9% in the second quarter. Blue Whale Capital LLP now owns 127,250 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $56,138,000 after acquiring an additional 4,750 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Mastercard by 3.8% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 142,002 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $62,646,000 after acquiring an additional 5,158 shares in the last quarter. Investidor Profissional Gestao de Recursos Ltda. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 6.9% during the second quarter. Investidor Profissional Gestao de Recursos Ltda. now owns 24,146 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,652,000 after acquiring an additional 1,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 11.6% in the second quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 14,949 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $6,595,000 after purchasing an additional 1,549 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.63.

Mastercard Price Performance

Mastercard stock opened at $525.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $482.06 billion, a PE ratio of 39.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $524.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $494.24. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $427.45 and a one year high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.39 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.97%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.