Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Has $37.01 Million Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lowered its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,277 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 310 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises 0.7% of Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $37,006,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $35,932,000 after purchasing an additional 2,931 shares in the last quarter. 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 buying an additional 9,611 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 worth $1,325,353,000 after buying an additional 337,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,474,151,000 after acquiring an additional 100,550 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 price target (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $564.68 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $540.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $515.72. 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 company has a market capitalization of $514.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.65, a P/E/G 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. Research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.