Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Sells 120 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC decreased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 25,981 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for approximately 1.2% of Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $13,681,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd raised its position in Mastercard by 2.3% in the 3rd 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. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in 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 worth $1,325,353,000 after buying an additional 337,905 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 9,611 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its stake in Mastercard by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $410,813,000 after acquiring an additional 37,486 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $525.22 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $524.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $494.92. The firm has a market cap of $482.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.73, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $427.45 and a one year high of $537.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.39 EPS. Research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 19.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MA. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho increased their target price on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $566.63.

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.