Birinyi Associates Inc. Has $25.02 Million Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Birinyi Associates Inc. lowered its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 47,522 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 224 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 6.9% of Birinyi Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Birinyi Associates Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $25,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% during the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,385,383,000 after buying an additional 62,891 shares in the last quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $35,932,000 after acquiring an additional 2,931 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $194,141,000 after acquiring an additional 9,611 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,325,353,000 after purchasing an additional 337,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their target price on Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.0 %

MA stock opened at $564.68 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $540.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $515.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $514.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.65, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $576.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.