Heritage Family Offices LLP Has $2.16 Million Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Heritage Family Offices LLP lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,100 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 1.1% of Heritage Family Offices LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Heritage Family Offices LLP’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MA. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd boosted its position in Mastercard by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,385,383,000 after buying an additional 62,891 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,325,353,000 after acquiring an additional 337,905 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% during the third quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $410,813,000 after purchasing an additional 37,486 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $194,141,000 after purchasing an additional 9,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 2.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $522.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $524.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $493.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $479.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $425.48 and a 1 year high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 19.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.63.

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.