Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Sells 36,637 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lowered its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 829,949 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 36,637 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $437,026,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 493 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,135 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,651,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Capital Investment Services of America Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Services of America Inc. now owns 475 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $946,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 2,245 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,182,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $549.13 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $500.64 billion, a PE ratio of 39.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $549.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $526.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $582.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program 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 repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.