Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Acquired by Passumpsic Savings Bank

Passumpsic Savings Bank increased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,025 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for approximately 1.7% of Passumpsic Savings Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Passumpsic Savings Bank’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MA. State Street Corp lifted its position in Mastercard by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,425,665,000 after buying an additional 257,312 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $9,043,972,000 after buying an additional 453,773 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,501,814 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,800,836,000 after buying an additional 304,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 1.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,308,684 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,115,228,000 after purchasing an additional 64,456 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $635.00 price objective (up previously from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:MA opened at $557.44 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $538.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $513.33. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $576.94. The company has a market capitalization of $511.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.10. 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 (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. On average, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

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