Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. Has $7.62 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. reduced its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,462 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 40 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises 0.8% of Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Quilter Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.8% during the second quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 801 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $3,417,000. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 76.1% during the second quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,125 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Waycross Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,243 shares during the period. Finally, Black Diamond Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 55.6% in the second quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC now owns 937 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $572.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $566.13.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $505.27 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $463.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $524.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $492.75. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $425.48 and a 12-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.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.39 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its board has authorized a share 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 buy 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.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

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

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.