Blue Trust Inc. Has $3.02 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Blue Trust Inc. decreased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 47.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,744 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 5,107 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Creative Planning lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 11,331 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Mastercard by 14.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $925,662,000 after buying an additional 241,297 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 0.5% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,351 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,148,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 0.7% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 24,428 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $12,063,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the third quarter valued at about $233,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $635.00 price target (up from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $564.77 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $576.94. The stock has a market cap of $518.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.66, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $534.76 and a 200-day moving average of $508.68. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

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.