E&G Advisors LP Sells 100 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

E&G Advisors LP lowered its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,805 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. E&G Advisors LP’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 62,891 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 337,905 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $194,141,000 after buying an additional 9,611 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% in the third quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $410,813,000 after buying an additional 37,486 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 100,550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE MA opened at $564.48 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $518.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.64, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $528.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $501.78. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $428.86 and a 12 month high of $576.94.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced 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 net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding 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 usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on MA shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 target price (up from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $598.60.

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.