Norden Group LLC Boosts Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Norden Group LLC lifted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,006 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for 0.5% of Norden Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 87.4% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 536 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 3,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA grew its position in Mastercard by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 49,539 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $21,129,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 12,124 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,171,000 after buying an additional 2,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 490 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $504.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $452.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $510.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on Mastercard in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $545.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $490.23.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 114,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.57, for a total value of $52,732,980.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,767,308 shares in the company, valued at $44,761,653,661.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 13,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 46,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,388,649.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 114,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.57, for a total transaction of $52,732,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,767,308 shares in the company, valued at $44,761,653,661.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 480,630 shares of company stock valued at $221,479,470. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.9 %

MA stock traded down $3.90 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $453.20. The company had a trading volume of 1,179,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,390,903. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $471.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $437.01. 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 capitalization of $422.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.08. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $357.85 and a fifty-two week high of $490.00.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its 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. 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 analyst estimates of $6.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 22.32%.

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.