Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Sells 61,360 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC trimmed its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 59.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,519 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 61,360 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $22,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 74.0% during the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MA. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, November 25th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $575.00 target price (up previously from $565.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $566.63.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA traded up $2.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $525.22. 2,373,951 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,644,504. The company has a market cap of $482.06 billion, a PE ratio of 39.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $427.45 and a twelve month high of $537.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $524.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $493.64.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.39 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. 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. Mastercard's payout ratio is 19.97%.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes 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 shares are undervalued.

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.