SVB Wealth LLC Takes $8.12 Million Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 15,416 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,118,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd raised 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 valued at $1,385,383,000 after buying an additional 62,891 shares during the last quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $194,141,000 after purchasing an additional 9,611 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew 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 period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MA. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered 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 given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $576.08 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $542.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $517.21. The stock has a market cap of $525.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.47, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership 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.