Westwind Capital Trims Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Westwind Capital lessened its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 68,754 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 424 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 7.9% of Westwind Capital’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Westwind Capital’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $36,204,000 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. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd raised its stake in Mastercard by 2.3% in the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,385,383,000 after buying an additional 62,891 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $410,813,000 after acquiring an additional 37,486 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 2.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 4.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,497,160,000 after purchasing an additional 138,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Mastercard by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,325,353,000 after buying an additional 337,905 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Three 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $562.76.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE MA traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $512.28. 1,294,144 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,133,748. The company has a market cap of $470.19 billion, a PE ratio of 38.75, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $416.53 and a 12 month high of $537.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $523.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $490.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.