Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.

Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 169,423 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 1,678 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises approximately 3.4% of Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $89,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 62,891 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its position in Mastercard by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $194,141,000 after purchasing an additional 9,611 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Mastercard by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,325,353,000 after purchasing an additional 337,905 shares during the last quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Mastercard by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $35,932,000 after purchasing an additional 2,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Mastercard by 2.0% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $550.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer cut 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. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of MA traded down $5.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $557.44. The company had a trading volume of 2,256,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,585,452. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-year high of $576.94. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $538.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $512.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The stock has a market cap of $511.63 billion, a PE ratio of 40.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) 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 forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.