Stonebrook Private Inc. Buys Shares of 1,434 Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Stonebrook Private Inc. bought a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,434 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $612,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Barometer Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 661.5% in the third quarter. Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 134 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Mastercard from $504.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $510.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.23.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1 %

MA stock opened at $462.42 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $471.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $436.61. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $357.85 and a fifty-two week high of $490.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $431.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was 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 approximately $47,527,976,823. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total value of $7,632,649.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 12,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,644.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the completion of 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 366,630 shares of company stock valued at $168,746,490. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.