M&T Bank Corp Decreases Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 4.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 442,429 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 18,369 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Mastercard were worth $218,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd grew its holdings in Mastercard by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,385,383,000 after buying an additional 62,891 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 831,942 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $410,813,000 after acquiring an additional 37,486 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,010,430 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,474,151,000 after purchasing an additional 100,550 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 4.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,497,160,000 after purchasing an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter worth about $6,850,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $564.00 to $654.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Macquarie lifted their target price on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America increased their price target on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $562.76.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Mastercard stock traded up $4.75 during trading on Friday, hitting $528.03. 7,284,947 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,487,580. 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's 50-day moving average price is $520.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $484.29. The stock has a market cap of $484.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $416.53 and a 12-month high of $537.13.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.39 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is an increase from Mastercard's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.00%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.