Andina Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Andina Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 518 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 41 shares during the period. Andina Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd increased its holdings in Mastercard by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,385,383,000 after acquiring an additional 62,891 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Mastercard by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,325,353,000 after purchasing an additional 337,905 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $194,141,000 after purchasing an additional 9,611 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its holdings in Mastercard by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $410,813,000 after purchasing an additional 37,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Mastercard by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Macquarie increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $567.29.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $533.50 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $489.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $524.77 and a 200-day moving average of $497.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.00%.

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.