Foster & Motley Inc. Sells 79 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Foster & Motley Inc. decreased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,039 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 79 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. VanderPol Investments L.L.C. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. VanderPol Investments L.L.C. now owns 561 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Ibex Wealth Advisors bought a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth $9,805,000. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,899,778 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,000,366,000 after purchasing an additional 25,210 shares during the period. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,120 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,643,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $572,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on MA shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $595.64.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $555.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $576.94. The company has a market cap of $509.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50 day moving average is $527.58 and its 200 day moving average is $500.25.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.