CCLA Investment Management Sells 21,202 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

CCLA Investment Management lessened its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 258,653 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 21,202 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up 2.2% of CCLA Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. CCLA Investment Management’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $136,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Mastercard by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,425,665,000 after purchasing an additional 257,312 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after buying an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 120,665.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 4.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,501,814 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,800,836,000 after acquiring an additional 304,293 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MA. UBS Group raised their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $566.63.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA stock opened at $508.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $524.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $493.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $425.48 and a one year high of $537.70. The firm has a market cap of $466.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.46, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 given 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. 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 share 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 reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.