Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Stake Raised by Dash Acquisitions Inc.

Dash Acquisitions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,308 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,676 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 5.7% of Dash Acquisitions Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Dash Acquisitions Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $25,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MA. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 8,035,099 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,846,187,000 after buying an additional 1,965,782 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 2.5% in 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. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Mastercard by 52.8% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $573,017,000 after purchasing an additional 409,334 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned 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 $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1 %

Mastercard stock opened at $568.97 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $576.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $522.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $537.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $512.17.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced 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, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

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

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.