Rice Partnership LLC Has $703,000 Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Rice Partnership LLC decreased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 50.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,335 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,345 shares during the quarter. Rice Partnership LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 167,963 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $82,940,000 after buying an additional 11,513 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 27.1% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,513 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,191,000 after buying an additional 2,239 shares in the last quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 261.1% in the 3rd quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC now owns 5,532 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,732,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,129,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 22,045 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,886,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $595.64.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE:MA opened at $555.63 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $528.28 and its 200-day moving average is $501.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $576.94. The firm has a market cap of $509.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. Equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 16.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program 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 programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Company 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.