Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Sells 1,634 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 64,223 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,634 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for 1.6% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $33,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC now owns 1,628 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 28.3% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 37,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $19,730,000 after purchasing an additional 8,259 shares during the last quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. now owns 35,432 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $18,657,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 76,475 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,269,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D Orazio & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 1,431 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $754,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MA. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $603.08.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $562.55 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The business’s 50 day moving average is $531.61 and its 200 day moving average is $505.09. The stock has a market cap of $516.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $576.94.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. Sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.98 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is a positive change from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

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

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.