Courier Capital LLC Buys 47 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Courier Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 746 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the quarter. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $318,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cypress Wealth Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 864 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,240 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 348 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Visionary Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Mastercard by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 5,311 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,103,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Tufton Capital Management lifted its position in Mastercard by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 578 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $477.95 on Thursday. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $352.80 and a twelve month high of $490.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $445.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.40, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $463.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $426.09.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 191.22% and a net margin of 44.60%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. 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 presently 22.32%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on MA shares. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on Mastercard from $476.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $479.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total transaction of $3,736,447.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,672,828.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares in the company, valued at $47,527,976,823. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total value of $3,736,447.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 47,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,672,828.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,628 shares of company stock worth $23,309,067 over the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.