Swiss National Bank Has $1.23 Billion Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Swiss National Bank lowered its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,330,800 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 133,500 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for 0.8% of Swiss National Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.25% of Mastercard worth $1,227,329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 1,965,782 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $837,017,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 79,739.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,555,277 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $818,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553,329 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,899,438 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,532,541,000 after buying an additional 565,717 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE:MA opened at $524.69 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $478.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.77, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $582.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $545.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $522.05.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MA. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Company 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.