Manitou Investment Management Ltd. Purchases 368 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Manitou Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,933 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for 7.1% of Manitou Investment Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Manitou Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $35,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% in 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 last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,965,782 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 700,769 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 52.8% in the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $573,017,000 after acquiring an additional 409,334 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Mastercard from $593.00 to $580.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen raised their target price on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $572.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $567.29.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.2 %

Mastercard stock opened at $533.77 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $524.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $496.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $489.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.38, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.10. 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 Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board 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.