Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Sells 285 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lowered its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,475 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 285 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 1.0% of Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $22,808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 43,445.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,936,684 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,252,525,000 after purchasing an additional 2,929,940 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Mastercard by 3,339.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 815,506 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $322,867,000 after purchasing an additional 791,799 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 1,746,342 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $691,394,000 after purchasing an additional 569,534 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,966,348 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,153,957,000 after purchasing an additional 515,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Mastercard by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,839,088 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $728,113,000 after purchasing an additional 428,627 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company 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 issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.23.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:MA traded up $0.87 on Friday, hitting $462.98. 894,223 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,396,260. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $471.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $435.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $357.85 and a 52 week high of $490.00. The company has a market cap of $431.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.08.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 13,542 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.06, for a total value of $6,230,132.52. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,388,649.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.15, for a total value of $50,743,650.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 97,432,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,541,179,602.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 13,542 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.06, for a total transaction of $6,230,132.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,491 shares in the company, valued at $21,388,649.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,630 shares of company stock valued at $168,746,490 in the last three months. 0.13% of the stock is currently 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.