Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Reduces Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. reduced its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,496 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 575 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises about 0.9% of Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $8,686,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 4.0% in the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 47,635 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $21,015,000 after buying an additional 1,842 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.3% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 15,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,824,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the second quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 2,517 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,111,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 12,522.2% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 55,790 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 55,348 shares during the period. Finally, Cross Staff Investments Inc boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.9% in the second quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 3,190 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,407,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $575.00 price target (up from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $562.76.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA traded down $9.66 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $511.70. The company had a trading volume of 2,918,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,247,052. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $416.53 and a twelve month high of $537.70. The stock has a market cap of $469.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $523.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $490.28.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. This is an increase from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its board has authorized 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 purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often 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.