West Oak Capital LLC Lowers Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

West Oak Capital LLC lessened its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,960 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its position in Mastercard by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,255,582 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $13,866,020,000 after purchasing an additional 495,768 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,843,692 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,509,328,000 after buying an additional 2,385,640 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,308,223,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,075,358 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,593,025,000 after acquiring an additional 251,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 3.9% in the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 8,420,213 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,311,670,000 after buying an additional 318,077 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $510.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $479.62.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.4 %

MA traded up $2.01 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $479.96. 490,238 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,413,966. The stock has a market cap of $447.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.58, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $355.82 and a 1-year high of $490.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $463.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $426.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.32%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $11.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 98 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $439.52, for a total value of $43,072.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,740,407.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 98 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $439.52, for a total value of $43,072.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,740,407.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total value of $7,632,649.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 12,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,644.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,628 shares of company stock worth $23,309,067 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Company 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.