Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Reduces Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC decreased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 473,441 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 22,262 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $247,352,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 9.4% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Harrington Investments INC increased 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 worth $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Mastercard by 5.8% during 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. Zhang Financial LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 3.2% during the third quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $810,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $925,662,000 after acquiring an additional 241,297 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.1 %

MA opened at $564.79 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 firm has a market capitalization of $518.38 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 simple moving average of $532.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $507.00. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $576.94.

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

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $635.00 price target (up previously from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $603.08.

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.