SlateStone Wealth LLC Has $8.82 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,754 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 81 shares during the quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $8,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MA. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Mastercard by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $925,662,000 after purchasing an additional 241,297 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Mastercard by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,497,160,000 after purchasing an additional 138,842 shares in the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,826 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co raised its stake in Mastercard by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 17,969 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,873,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth about $23,623,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $527.87 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $545.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $522.78. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-year high of $582.23. The company has a market cap of $481.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.00, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to buy 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 target price (up from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

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.