Private Advisor Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 36.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,192 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,310 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $19,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cypress Wealth Services LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.9% during 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 period. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,996 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors grew its position in Mastercard by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 1,037 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $442,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO grew its position in Mastercard by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 598 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tufton Capital Management grew its position in Mastercard by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 604 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total transaction of $97,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 47,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,672,828.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total transaction of $97,450.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,527,976,823. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 725,088 shares of company stock worth $329,657,858. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $545.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Mastercard from $520.00 to $510.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $496.27.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock traded up $5.79 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $449.37. The stock had a trading volume of 2,513,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,473,001. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $357.85 and a 52 week high of $490.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $419.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $469.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $438.74.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.09. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.09% and a return on equity of 183.70%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.22 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.99%.

About Mastercard

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.