Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Position Lessened by New Hampshire Trust

New Hampshire Trust reduced its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,763 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 297 shares during the quarter. New Hampshire Trust’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,035,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% during the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,385,383,000 after buying an additional 62,891 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,325,353,000 after purchasing an additional 337,905 shares in the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $194,141,000 after purchasing an additional 9,611 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% during the third quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $410,813,000 after purchasing an additional 37,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE MA opened at $525.22 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $524.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $494.92. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $427.45 and a 52-week high of $537.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $482.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results 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 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 analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.39 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict 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 paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Macquarie upped their price objective on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 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 MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $566.63.

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.