Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. cut its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 31.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,630 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 755 shares during the quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 14.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $925,662,000 after purchasing an additional 241,297 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Mastercard by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 511 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 1,097 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $542,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 5,779 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,854,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dash Acquisitions Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.9% during the third quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 44,632 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $22,645,000 after acquiring an additional 2,877 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MA. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Susquehanna increased their price objective 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, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $576.08 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $576.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $525.22 billion, a PE ratio of 41.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $542.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $517.61. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase 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 repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.