Cigna Investments Inc. New Sells 124 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Cigna Investments Inc. New cut its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,393 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 124 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up 0.8% of Cigna Investments Inc. New’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,425,665,000 after acquiring an additional 257,312 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after acquiring an additional 700,769 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $9,043,972,000 after acquiring an additional 453,773 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,971,020,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 4.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,501,814 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,800,836,000 after acquiring an additional 304,293 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $603.08.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $565.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $519.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $531.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $506.04. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $576.94.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. Sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding 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 often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Mastercard

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.