Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) is Bluegrass Capital Partners LP’s 3rd Largest Position

Bluegrass Capital Partners LP lessened its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 12.6% of Bluegrass Capital Partners LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Bluegrass Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $14,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 483.3% in the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 70 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 72.5% during the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 88 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MA. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie upped their target price on Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $535.80 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $582.23. 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 fifty day moving average price of $545.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $521.61. The firm has a market cap of $488.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.57, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. 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 initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.