Oak Ridge Investments LLC Has $18.99 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,063 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,045 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises approximately 1.5% of Oak Ridge Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Oak Ridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $18,990,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Macquarie raised their target price on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $566.63.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $525.22 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $524.28 and a 200-day moving average of $494.24. The stock has a market cap of $482.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $427.45 and a one year high of $537.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The business 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.39 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders 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%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.97%.

Mastercard announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually 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.