Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Bought by First Manhattan CO. LLC.

First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 24.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,268 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,810 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $12,779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,796 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 750 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 404,236 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $199,613,000 after purchasing an additional 101,347 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank boosted its stake in Mastercard by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 2,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,568,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $801,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $568.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $532.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $533.09. The stock has a market cap of $518.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.92, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total value of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. This trade represents a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Mastercard from $660.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 target price (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.25.

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.