Bank of Montreal Can Decreases Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Bank of Montreal Can lowered its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 57.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,467,695 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,298,019 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,299,414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Polymer Capital Management US LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Trek Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Trek Financial LLC now owns 2,539 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,337,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,267,937 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $11,725,627,000 after acquiring an additional 912,856 shares in the last quarter. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,360 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,822,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polymer Capital Management HK LTD purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $211,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.11.

Insider Activity

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 7.7 %

NYSE:MA opened at $489.94 on Monday. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $582.23. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $550.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $528.50. 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 market cap of $446.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.