Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Purchased by Ayrshire Capital Management LLC

Ayrshire Capital Management LLC raised its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MAFree Report) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,660 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 302 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises 4.0% of Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $8,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,385,383,000 after acquiring an additional 62,891 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,325,353,000 after buying an additional 337,905 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $410,813,000 after buying an additional 37,486 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,474,151,000 after acquiring an additional 100,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 4.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,497,160,000 after acquiring an additional 138,842 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1 %

Mastercard stock opened at $505.27 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $524.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $492.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $425.48 and a twelve month high of $537.70. The firm has a market cap of $463.75 billion, a PE ratio of 38.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MAGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program 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 purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 23.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MA. Macquarie upped their price objective on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America upped their price target on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $566.13.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Mastercard

About Mastercard

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Mastercard (NYSE:MA)

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