PFG Investments LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

PFG Investments LLC raised its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,835 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bollard Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Barometer Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $462.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $510.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $476.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $479.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now owns 97,543,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 97,543,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $22,672,828.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,628 shares of company stock valued at $23,309,067 in the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock traded up $1.33 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $478.13. The stock had a trading volume of 247,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,411,366. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $462.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $425.66. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $352.80 and a 1-year high of $490.00. The stock has a market cap of $446.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. The company had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Stockholders 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 of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.32%.

Mastercard announced that its board has initiated a share 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 buy up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.