Lincoln Capital LLC Sells 909 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Lincoln Capital LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 62,844 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 909 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 7.0% of Lincoln Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Lincoln Capital LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $33,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. State Street Corp grew its position in Mastercard by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,425,665,000 after buying an additional 257,312 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 453,773 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 4.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,501,814 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,800,836,000 after purchasing an additional 304,293 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $525.22 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $482.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.73, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $524.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $494.59. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $427.45 and a twelve month high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. 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 is currently 19.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $566.63.

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.