United Bank Increases Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

United Bank increased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,712 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up about 1.5% of United Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. United Bank’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Martin Currie Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Martin Currie Ltd. now owns 157,479 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $82,924,000 after purchasing an additional 3,810 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,947,452 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,025,470,000 after buying an additional 24,790 shares during the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 37.6% in the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,160 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,983,000 after buying an additional 4,144 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,965,409 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,034,925,000 after buying an additional 150,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Mastercard by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,940,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,021,588,000 after acquiring an additional 264,094 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total value of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $540.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $492.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.92, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $582.23. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $550.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $526.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MA. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

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.