Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Acquired by New Millennium Group LLC

New Millennium Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 18.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,276 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. New Millennium Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,199,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,846,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,043,972,000 after purchasing an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 52.8% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $573,017,000 after buying an additional 409,334 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $555.63 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $576.94. The company has a market cap of $509.97 billion, a PE ratio of 42.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $527.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $500.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. 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 yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MA. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $595.64.

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.