Central Pacific Bank Trust Division Has $5.69 Million Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lowered its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,802 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 660 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises 0.7% of Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,846,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after buying an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,043,972,000 after buying an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 52.8% in the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $573,017,000 after purchasing an additional 409,334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. 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 report on Thursday, November 14th. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp increased their price target on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $562.76.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock traded down $0.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $522.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 824,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,814,250. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company’s fifty day moving average is $523.30 and its 200-day moving average is $489.21. The company has a market capitalization of $479.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $416.53 and a 1 year high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.39 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program 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 repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

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.