William Blair Investment Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,436,404 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,685 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up 1.8% of William Blair Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $756,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 65 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 483.3% during the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 70 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $527.87 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $481.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $545.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $523.14. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS 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%. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.