Achmea Investment Management B.V. Cuts Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Achmea Investment Management B.V. lowered its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 11.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 53,827 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 6,782 shares during the quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $28,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,846,187,000 after buying an additional 1,965,782 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $837,017,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 79,739.7% during the 4th 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 last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in Mastercard by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,899,438 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,532,541,000 after purchasing an additional 565,717 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen increased their target price on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $524.69 on Thursday. 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 fifty day moving average is $545.31 and its 200 day moving average is $522.05. The stock has a market cap of $478.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan 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 purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

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.