Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. Reduces Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 27,562 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $14,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $837,017,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 79,739.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,555,277 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $818,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553,329 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 3.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after acquiring an additional 700,769 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in Mastercard by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,899,438 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,532,541,000 after purchasing an additional 565,717 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $635.00 price target (up from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of Mastercard 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $536.08 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $488.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.59, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $546.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $524.00. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $582.23.

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, beating 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%. Analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication 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.