Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) is Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s 7th Largest Position

Physicians Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,213 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for 2.9% of Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $9,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.7% in 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 grew its stake in Mastercard by 3.4% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% in the 3rd 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 during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 8,035,099 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 304,293 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MA. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen increased their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $563.61 on Friday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $538.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $512.53. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $576.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $517.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. 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 is currently 21.89%.

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.