Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by Manning & Napier Advisors LLC

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MAFree Report) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 547,768 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 34,619 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for 3.3% of Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $288,438,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the third quarter worth $54,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MA. UBS Group boosted their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup increased their target price on Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $567.29.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on MA

Mastercard Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MA traded up $1.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $549.00. 306,893 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,470,263. The stock has a market capitalization of $503.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $525.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $499.45. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $428.86 and a 12 month high of $551.55.

Mastercard (NYSE:MAGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.39 EPS. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

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

Mastercard Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Mastercard (NYSE:MA)

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