New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,123,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 11,539 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises approximately 0.8% of New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.12% of Mastercard worth $591,366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB increased its position in Mastercard by 14.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $925,662,000 after purchasing an additional 241,297 shares during the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 893 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 4,480 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,212,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,589 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,772,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 563 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. DZ Bank raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho increased their price target on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.6 %

Mastercard stock opened at $567.90 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $576.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $537.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $511.77. The firm has a market cap of $521.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. On average, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in 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 usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard 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.