Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Acquired by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 136,202 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,928 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $71,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 483.3% during the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 70 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MA. UBS Group boosted their target price on Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $546.98 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $545.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $521.14. The company has a market capitalization of $498.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

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.