Albion Financial Group UT Lowers Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Albion Financial Group UT cut its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 23.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 486 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 145 shares during the quarter. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 8,035,099 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Mastercard by 51.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,846,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,965,782 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 453,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $573,017,000 after purchasing an additional 409,334 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MA shares. Macquarie boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $566.63.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.6 %

MA opened at $527.84 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $524.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $496.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $537.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $484.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.93, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.39 EPS. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management 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.