West Oak Capital LLC Reduces Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

West Oak Capital LLC cut its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 94.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 100 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,875 shares during the quarter. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $53,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MA. Goldstein Advisors LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $749,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 0.9% during the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 2,190 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 1.5% in the third quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $690,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,055 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp increased its position in Mastercard by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $834,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on MA. Citigroup raised their price target on Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $575.00 price target (up previously from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $562.76.

Mastercard Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE MA traded down $10.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $505.52. 2,815,474 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,475,179. The stock has a market capitalization of $463.98 billion, a PE ratio of 38.24, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. 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 1-year low of $425.48 and a 1-year high of $537.70. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $524.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $491.44.

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, 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 firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.39 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 23.00%.

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

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.