Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Position Cut by Greenfield Savings Bank

Greenfield Savings Bank trimmed its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,039 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for approximately 2.0% of Greenfield Savings Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Greenfield Savings Bank’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Goldstein Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $749,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 2,190 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 1.5% in the third quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,055 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Traveka Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 1,478 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $778,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.13.

Mastercard Price Performance

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

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

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 paid a $0.76 dividend. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.00%.

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

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.