Farther Finance Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,198 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 1,121 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,846,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $837,017,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 79,739.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,555,277 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $818,962,000 after buying an additional 1,553,329 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $10,545,139,000 after acquiring an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,899,438 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,532,541,000 after acquiring an additional 565,717 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $526.11 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $582.23. The company has a market cap of $479.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.88, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $545.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $522.03.

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Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard's payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Macquarie raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of 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 lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $606.11.

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.

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