E&G Advisors LP Lowers Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

E&G Advisors LP lessened its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,805 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. E&G Advisors LP’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised 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 worth $17,425,665,000 after acquiring an additional 257,312 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 worth $9,043,972,000 after purchasing an additional 453,773 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted 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 worth $3,971,020,000 after purchasing an additional 8,035,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 4.2% during 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 buying an additional 304,293 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $598.60.

Mastercard Price Performance

NYSE MA opened at $564.48 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $518.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.64, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $428.86 and a 12 month high of $576.94. The company’s 50 day moving average is $528.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $501.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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.