Amalgamated Bank Reduces Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Amalgamated Bank decreased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 182,458 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 5,244 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 0.8% of Amalgamated Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $96,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 14.8% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,874,568 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $925,662,000 after buying an additional 241,297 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in Mastercard by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 6,194 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,059,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,515 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,192,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 6,144 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,466 shares during the period. Finally, First American Bank purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at $939,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:MA opened at $558.44 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $539.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $514.96. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $576.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $509.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.20, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS 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, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

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.