Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Sells 5,378 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC trimmed its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 209,853 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 5,378 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up 1.6% of Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $110,502,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldstein Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the third quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $749,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 2,190 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $690,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management increased its holdings in Mastercard by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,055 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp raised its position in Mastercard by 1.3% in the third quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 1,677 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of several research reports. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $572.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $562.76.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.8 %

MA stock traded up $4.27 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $515.67. 1,037,716 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,112,119. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $523.76 and its 200 day moving average is $491.10. The firm has a market cap of $473.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $418.54 and a twelve month high of $537.70.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a share 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 buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.00%.

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.