SRN Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

SRN Advisors LLC increased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,619 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 821 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises about 2.6% of SRN Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. SRN Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 1,965,782 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 3.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $9,043,972,000 after purchasing an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $573,017,000 after buying an additional 409,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 214.7% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 535,503 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $264,431,000 after buying an additional 365,324 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn cut Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. DZ Bank raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Macquarie increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $560.86 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $541.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $516.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $511.34 billion, a PE ratio of 40.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $576.94.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

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.