Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 30.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 467 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 454,183 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $200,368,000 after purchasing an additional 79,418 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Mastercard by 1.4% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,082,729 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,241,297,000 after buying an additional 71,569 shares during the last quarter. Dundas Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $19,614,000. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at about $1,826,000. Finally, Delta Investment Management LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 2,626 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,158,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $533.77 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $489.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $537.70. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $524.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $496.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $566.63.

Mastercard 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.