First National Advisers LLC Acquires 449 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

First National Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,781 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 449 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up 1.2% of First National Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. First National Advisers LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $925,662,000 after acquiring an additional 241,297 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,497,160,000 after buying an additional 138,842 shares in the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,826 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 17,969 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $8,873,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at $23,623,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on MA shares. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Oppenheimer lowered 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $527.87 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $545.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $522.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The company has a market capitalization of $481.27 billion, a PE ratio of 38.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. As a group, analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program 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 purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.89%.

About Mastercard

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.