EULAV Asset Management Decreases Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

EULAV Asset Management reduced its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 52.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,116 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 24,000 shares during the period. EULAV Asset Management’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $11,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Appleton Partners Inc. MA increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 1,184 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $623,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in Mastercard by 57.8% during the 4th quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd now owns 20,188 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,630,000 after buying an additional 7,393 shares during the last quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $35,932,000 after buying an additional 2,931 shares during the period. Realta Investment Advisors lifted its stake in Mastercard by 50.7% in the fourth quarter. Realta Investment Advisors now owns 1,168 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triasima Portfolio Management inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $430,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:MA opened at $562.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $516.33 billion, a PE ratio of 40.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $576.94. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $531.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $504.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MA. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp raised their price target on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie upped their price objective on Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $603.08.

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.