Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by SNS Financial Group LLC

SNS Financial Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 642 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 70 shares during the quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB grew its position in Mastercard by 14.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $925,662,000 after buying an additional 241,297 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 5.8% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 563 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 17.3% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,467 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,119,000 after buying an additional 2,721 shares during the period. Metropolis Capital Ltd grew its position in Mastercard by 19.2% during the third quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 395,189 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $195,144,000 after buying an additional 63,541 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet North America Advisors SA grew its position in Mastercard by 1.8% during the third quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 15,488 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,648,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on MA shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. 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, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.1 %

Mastercard stock opened at $568.97 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $537.79 and its 200-day moving average is $512.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $576.94. The company has a market cap of $522.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.96, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.89%.

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