FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Decreases Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lessened its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,283 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 59 shares during the quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,255,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Dominguez Wealth Management Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Mastercard by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Dominguez Wealth Management Solutions Inc. now owns 821 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 580.0% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 353,231 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $186,001,000 after acquiring an additional 301,285 shares during the period. TrueWealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at $218,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $110,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in Mastercard by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 6,599 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,474,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $525.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $482.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.73, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $524.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $493.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $427.45 and a 52 week high of $537.70.

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

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $566.63.

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.