Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. Sells 180 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. cut its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 13,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 180 shares during the period. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,072,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Mastercard by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 167,963 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $82,940,000 after acquiring an additional 11,513 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 17.0% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 7,988 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,944,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% during the third quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 64,154 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $31,679,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.2% in the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 3,068 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Mastercard by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 895 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $442,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $635.00 price objective (up from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $603.08.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $559.21 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $513.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $529.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $502.60. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $576.94.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 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%. Equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

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

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.