Argent Capital Management LLC Sells 5,406 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Argent Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 228,027 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 5,406 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises 3.4% of Argent Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Argent Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $120,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 8,035,099 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,846,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after acquiring an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,043,972,000 after buying an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 52.8% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $573,017,000 after buying an additional 409,334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $572.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.63.

Mastercard Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $522.41 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $425.48 and a fifty-two week high of $537.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $479.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.52, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $524.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $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 (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm 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 company earned $3.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.97%.

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are 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.