Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by Elmwood Wealth Management Inc.

Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 20 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 1.2% of Elmwood Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,051,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 8,035,099 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in 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 worth $2,846,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 3.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $9,043,972,000 after purchasing an additional 453,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 52.8% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,185,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $573,017,000 after purchasing an additional 409,334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Mastercard from $480.00 to $509.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $566.13.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $504.86. 1,894,271 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,386,794. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $524.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $492.31. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $425.48 and a 1-year 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 market cap of $463.38 billion, a PE ratio of 38.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 45.26% and a return on equity of 178.27%. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 23.00%.

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.