Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co Acquires 570 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 28.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,589 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,363,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Schear Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $201,000. Sather Financial Group Inc grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 97,902 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $51,552,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Guided Capital Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Portfolio Design Labs LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 36.9% in the 4th quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 10,350 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,450,000 after acquiring an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Augustine Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $946,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MA. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $603.08.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $564.79 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $532.30 and a 200-day moving average of $507.00. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $576.94. The stock has a market cap of $518.38 billion, a PE ratio of 40.66, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.98 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.