Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC Raises Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 20,656 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 862 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises 0.8% of Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $8,810,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Mastercard by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,255,582 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $13,866,020,000 after acquiring an additional 495,768 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,843,692 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,509,328,000 after purchasing an additional 2,385,640 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $3,308,223,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Mastercard by 2.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,075,358 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,593,025,000 after buying an additional 251,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 3.9% in the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 8,420,213 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,311,670,000 after buying an additional 318,077 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Mastercard from $432.00 to $499.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $510.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $479.62.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock traded up $3.62 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $481.57. The company had a trading volume of 2,207,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,443,068. The stock has a market cap of $449.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.74, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $464.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $426.46. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $355.82 and a 52-week high of $490.00.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 191.22% and a net margin of 44.60%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.32%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $11.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Mastercard news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 8,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.26, for a total transaction of $3,829,314.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,003,217.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Mastercard news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 8,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.26, for a total value of $3,829,314.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,003,217.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 98 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $439.52, for a total transaction of $43,072.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,235 shares in the company, valued at $2,740,407.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,628 shares of company stock valued at $23,309,067 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.