Lion Street Advisors LLC Sells 98 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Lion Street Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,616 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 98 shares during the period. Lion Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Czech National Bank increased its position in Mastercard by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 167,963 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $82,940,000 after buying an additional 11,513 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 17.0% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 7,988 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,944,000 after acquiring an additional 1,159 shares during the period. Atwood & Palmer Inc. raised its stake in Mastercard by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 64,154 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $31,679,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 3,068 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 895 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $442,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $559.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $513.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $576.94. The company’s fifty day moving average is $529.65 and its 200 day moving average is $503.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer dropped their price target 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. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.