Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC Has $332,000 Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC lessened its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 630 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $332,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealthquest Corp boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealthquest Corp now owns 655 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Cove Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,584,000. Zhang Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 1,730 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $911,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 11,176 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,885,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 90,678 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $47,746,000 after buying an additional 8,180 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, November 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $566.63.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $525.22 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $482.06 billion, a PE ratio of 39.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $427.45 and a fifty-two week high of $537.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $524.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $494.92.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.97%.

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.