Natixis Advisors LLC Has $313.30 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 594,989 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,860 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up 0.6% of Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.06% of Mastercard worth $313,303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 13,184 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,942,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Group Corp bought a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $400,000. Harrington Investments INC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Harrington Investments INC now owns 3,411 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,796,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 5,416 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,852,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares during the period. Finally, Copperwynd Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Copperwynd Financial LLC now owns 4,232 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,229,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MA. Macquarie lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $527.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $545.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $522.44. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $582.23. The firm has a market cap of $481.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan 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 repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.