Essex LLC Decreases Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Essex LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,880 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 20 shares during the period. Essex LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Mastercard by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $17,425,665,000 after purchasing an additional 257,312 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after acquiring an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 2.5% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,971,020,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,501,814 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,800,836,000 after purchasing an additional 304,293 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of MA opened at $562.55 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $576.94. The company has a market capitalization of $516.33 billion, a PE ratio of 40.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $531.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $505.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. As a group, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.98 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th were 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 was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MA. KeyCorp upped their target price on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $603.08.

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.