M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Makes New Investment in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 483 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $254,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $17,425,665,000 after purchasing an additional 257,312 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 700,769 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $9,043,972,000 after buying an additional 453,773 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,971,020,000 after buying an additional 8,035,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 4.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,501,814 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,800,836,000 after purchasing an additional 304,293 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $580.00 to $618.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Mastercard from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Macquarie raised their price target on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $566.63.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MA traded up $2.08 during trading on Monday, hitting $525.22. The company had a trading volume of 2,373,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,205,146. The stock has a market cap of $482.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $524.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $494.92. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $427.45 and a one year high of $537.70.

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

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This is a positive change from Mastercard's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is 19.97%.

Mastercard announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often 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.