Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Purchased by Smartleaf Asset Management LLC

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 19.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,112 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,454 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd lifted its position in Mastercard by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,385,383,000 after acquiring an additional 62,891 shares during the period. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. lifted 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 period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its position in 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 during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Mastercard by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,325,353,000 after acquiring an additional 337,905 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 2.0% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 100,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on MA shares. DZ Bank raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie lifted their price target on Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 price target (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $576.08 on Friday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $542.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $517.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $525.22 billion, a PE ratio of 41.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $576.94.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.89%.

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.