Chicago Capital LLC Sells 236 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Chicago Capital LLC cut its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 124,369 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 236 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 1.7% of Chicago Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Chicago Capital LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $65,489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,425,665,000 after purchasing an additional 257,312 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 3.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after acquiring an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 453,773 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,971,020,000 after acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 4.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,501,814 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,800,836,000 after acquiring an additional 304,293 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $595.64.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.8 %

MA opened at $555.63 on Monday. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $576.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $528.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $501.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $509.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.00, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership 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.