Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Decreases Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lowered its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 36.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,722 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 12,788 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $11,966,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 62,891 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its holdings in 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 worth $194,141,000 after purchasing an additional 9,611 shares in the last quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 4.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,931 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,325,353,000 after purchasing an additional 337,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,497,160,000 after buying an additional 138,842 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna raised their target price on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE MA opened at $543.82 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $582.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $548.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $525.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $495.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.