CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp Sells 79 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp trimmed its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,391 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 79 shares during the period. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in Mastercard during the third quarter valued at $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 74.0% in the third quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter valued at $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price 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. Macquarie upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $566.63.

Mastercard Trading Up 2.6 %

NYSE MA opened at $522.41 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $479.48 billion, a PE ratio of 39.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $425.48 and a 1-year high of $537.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $524.14 and a 200-day moving average of $493.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.39 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 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 (DPR) is 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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.