Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Bought by Aviso Financial Inc.

Aviso Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,564 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 41 shares during the quarter. Aviso Financial Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Mastercard by 14.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $925,662,000 after purchasing an additional 241,297 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,497,160,000 after acquiring an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 8.6% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,733 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,325,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 30.6% in the third quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 2,549 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bell Bank boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 24.4% in the third quarter. Bell Bank now owns 5,696 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,813,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $519.38 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $582.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $545.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $522.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $473.52 billion, a PE ratio of 37.39, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

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.