Mirabaud & Cie SA Reduces Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Mirabaud & Cie SA cut its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,708 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 486 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up approximately 1.1% of Mirabaud & Cie SA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Mirabaud & Cie SA’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,154,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.9% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 8,286 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,655,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV increased its stake in Mastercard by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 3,451 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,522,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Tremblant Capital Group increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 46.7% during the second quarter. Tremblant Capital Group now owns 4,028 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,777,000 after acquiring an additional 1,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.8% in the second quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 7,007 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,219,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MA. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $566.63.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.6 %

MA opened at $527.84 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $428.86 and a 12 month high of $537.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $524.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $495.46. The firm has a market cap of $484.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.93, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

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

Mastercard declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

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

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.