PSI Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

PSI Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,527 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 136 shares during the period. PSI Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $804,000 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. Quilter Plc grew its holdings in Mastercard by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 801 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,417,000. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 76.1% during the second quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the period. Waycross Partners LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 12.2% in the second quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 39,019 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,214,000 after buying an additional 4,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Black Diamond Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 55.6% during the second quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC now owns 937 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $566.13.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $505.27 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $425.48 and a twelve month high of $537.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company has a market cap of $463.75 billion, a PE ratio of 38.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50 day moving average is $524.08 and its 200 day moving average is $492.75.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.39 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are 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.