MCF Advisors LLC Buys 155 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 13.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,324 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the quarter. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter worth about $25,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Barometer Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 661.5% during the third quarter. Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Mastercard from $504.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $452.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $432.00 to $499.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total transaction of $3,736,447.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,640 shares in the company, valued at $22,672,828.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were 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 owns 47,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,672,828.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 98 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $439.52, for a total transaction of $43,072.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,740,407.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,728 shares of company stock worth $68,483,403 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA traded up $0.69 during trading on Friday, hitting $455.39. 2,548,844 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,169,012. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $357.85 and a twelve month high of $490.00. The company has a market cap of $424.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.49, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.08. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $471.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $434.07.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. The business had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.