Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by Webster Bank N. A.

Webster Bank N. A. decreased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,618 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter worth about $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 74.0% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $567.29.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $533.50 on Monday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-year high of $537.70. The company has a market capitalization of $489.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.36, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $524.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $497.91. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.39 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

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

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.