Kera Capital Partners Inc. Has $247,000 Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Kera Capital Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 10.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 450 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 42 shares during the quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,594,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $83,644,000. Allen Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $572,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management raised its stake in Mastercard by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 614 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, USAdvisors Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total value of $8,678,774.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. This trade represents a 17.12% 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 ninety days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $577.36 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $543.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $539.17. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $588.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $526.39 billion, a PE ratio of 41.57, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. The business had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie decreased their target price on Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $608.57.

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.