Occidental Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Occidental Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 38.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,107 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings 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 purchasing 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 buying an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $9,043,972,000 after buying an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 120,665.3% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 8,035,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:MA opened at $523.08 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $480.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.57, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $524.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $493.43. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $425.48 and a 1-year high of $537.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 0.58%. 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 19.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on Mastercard from $515.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $566.63.

About Mastercard

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.