Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by Certuity LLC

Certuity LLC trimmed its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 65.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,231 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 9,881 shares during the quarter. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 372 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $184,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Harrington Investments INC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 14.0% in the third quarter. Harrington Investments INC now owns 3,225 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 5.8% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 205,594 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $101,523,000 after purchasing an additional 11,331 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $810,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $925,662,000 after purchasing an additional 241,297 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 brokerages have commented on MA. Citigroup increased their target price on Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $603.08.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA opened at $564.79 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $576.94. The company has a 50 day moving average of $532.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $507.00. The company has a market cap of $518.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. 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 return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership 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.