Cypress Funds LLC Sells 18,678 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated $MA

Cypress Funds LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 20.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 74,840 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 18,678 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 7.1% of Cypress Funds LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Cypress Funds LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $42,725,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Prospera Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $294,000. American National Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 5,116 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,921,000 after buying an additional 1,316 shares during the last quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 8,507 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its position in Mastercard by 235.7% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,598 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hall Laurie J Trustee boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee now owns 14,290 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,158,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Macquarie Infrastructure increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. HSBC upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Bank of America started coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $665.00 to $678.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $664.40.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $493.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $465.59 and a 52 week high of $601.77. The stock has a market cap of $440.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.88, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $516.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $544.97.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The credit services provider reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.52. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.65% and a return on equity of 203.92%. The company had revenue of $8.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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