First Heartland Consultants Inc. Has $1.04 Million Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

First Heartland Consultants Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,978 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 24 shares during the period. First Heartland Consultants Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,041,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whalerock Point Partners LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC now owns 14,678 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $7,729,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $35,932,000 after acquiring an additional 2,931 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 71,862 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $37,841,000 after acquiring an additional 1,194 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 5,612 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,022,224,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $633.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. DZ Bank raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.25.

Mastercard Stock Performance

NYSE MA opened at $569.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $519.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $538.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $536.96. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $588.45.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. This represents a 15.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,207 shares of company stock worth $12,664,529 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.10% 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.