Acropolis Investment Management LLC Sells 68 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Acropolis Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,965 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 68 shares during the quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in Mastercard by 70.5% during the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 9,688 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 4,005 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 37,608.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 337,487 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $148,886,000 after purchasing an additional 336,592 shares in the last quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 5.3% during the second quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC now owns 11,897 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,249,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. purchased a new position in Mastercard during the second quarter valued at approximately $268,000. Finally, Excalibur Management Corp raised its stake in Mastercard by 6.7% in the second quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 3,056 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,348,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.7 %

Mastercard stock opened at $508.49 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $425.48 and a 12 month high of $537.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $466.71 billion, a PE ratio of 38.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.10. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $524.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $493.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.39 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This is an increase 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 23.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MA shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Macquarie lifted their target price on Mastercard from $505.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $584.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $566.63.

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.