Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Holdings Raised by Generate Investment Management Ltd

Generate Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 57.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,188 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,393 shares during the quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $10,630,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Mastercard by 0.7% in the 3rd 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 lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% during the third 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 grew its position in Mastercard by 120,665.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 4.2% in the 3rd 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MA. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn cut Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie lifted their price target on Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $603.08.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1 %

MA opened at $567.12 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $531.02 and a 200-day moving average of $504.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $520.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. 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 Incorporated has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-year high of $576.94.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

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

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.