Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Position Lifted by Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc.

Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,329 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 2.9% of Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bollard Group LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Barometer Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total value of $7,632,649.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 12,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,644.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total transaction of $7,632,649.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 12,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,832,644.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 97,543,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,527,976,823. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 50,628 shares of company stock worth $23,309,067. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MA. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $452.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $476.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $479.62.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock traded down $0.68 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $476.12. The stock had a trading volume of 762,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,419,981. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $462.19 and its 200 day moving average is $425.66. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $352.80 and a twelve month high of $490.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $444.17 billion, a PE ratio of 40.30, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 191.22% and a net margin of 44.60%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $11.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.32%.

Mastercard Company 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.