Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. Purchases 61 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

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

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Professional Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,649 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $177,000. Courier Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 746 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. IFG Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $806,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Columbia Trust Co 01012016 acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth $247,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 8,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.26, for a total value of $3,829,314.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,003,217.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 8,900 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.26, for a total value of $3,829,314.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 46,491 shares in the company, valued at $20,003,217.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 4,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $435.00, for a total transaction of $1,740,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,712,225. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,628 shares of company stock valued at $23,309,067 over the last ninety days. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MA. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $432.00 to $499.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho raised 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. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $479.62.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA traded down $0.68 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $476.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 762,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,419,981. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $462.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $425.66. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $352.80 and a 12 month high of $490.00. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $444.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08.

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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced 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 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.32%.

Mastercard 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.