Mastercard Incorporated $MA Stake Reduced by Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA

Key Points

• Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors trimmed its Mastercard stake by 0.2% in Q4, selling 3,196 shares and holding 1,382,955 shares worth $719.7 million, making MA ~6.4% of the firm's portfolio and its third-largest position.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive — the consensus rating is Buy with an average target of $659.81, driven by multiple recent upgrades (six Strong Buy and twenty-one Buy ratings versus one Sell).
• Mastercard beat Q4 expectations with EPS of $4.76 (vs. $4.24 est.) and revenue of $8.81B (up 17.5% YoY), and announced a $0.87 quarterly dividend (annualized $3.48, yield ~0.7%).

Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA trimmed its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,382,955 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 3,196 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for approximately 6.4% of Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA owned about 0.15% of Mastercard worth $719,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 79,431,340 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $45,181,341,000 after acquiring an additional 955,533 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Mastercard by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,580,374 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $20,807,283,000 after purchasing an additional 997,536 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Mastercard by 6.5% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,347,834 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $5,885,944,000 after purchasing an additional 629,941 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,806,887 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,303,015,000 after buying an additional 235,403 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 6.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,658,547 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,218,638,000 after buying an additional 339,137 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 15th. Compass Point raised Mastercard from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $620.00 to $735.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $700.00 price target on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $685.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $659.81.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $509.83 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $508.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $538.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $480.50 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a market cap of $454.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.83.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. The business had revenue of $8.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.80 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 203.92% and a net margin of 45.65%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.82 EPS. Analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 19.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th will be given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 9th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.07%.

Mastercard Company Profile

Mastercard Incorporated is a global payments technology company that operates a network connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 200 countries and territories. The company facilitates electronic payments and transaction processing for credit, debit and prepaid card products carrying the Mastercard brand, while also providing a range of payment-related services to issuers, acquirers and merchants. Its technology and network enable authorization, clearing and settlement of payments and support a broad set of use cases including point-of-sale, e-commerce and mobile payments.

Beyond core transaction processing, Mastercard offers a suite of value-added services such as fraud and risk management, identity and authentication tools, tokenization and digital wallet support, cross-border and commercial payment solutions, and data analytics and consulting services for merchants and financial partners.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.