Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. Invests $295,000 in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 539 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $295,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,022,224,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 65,631.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,508,636,000 after acquiring an additional 8,213,123 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Mastercard by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,149,181 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,817,684,000 after acquiring an additional 1,207,787 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $617,303,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $561,313,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, June 6th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $550.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $612.90.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $564.06 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $565.90 and a 200-day moving average of $549.52. The company has a market cap of $514.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $429.56 and a one year high of $594.71.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.21% and a return on equity of 196.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 21.32%.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total transaction of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. This represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 959 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $572.86, for a total transaction of $549,372.74. Following the transaction, the insider owned 25,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,630,844.40. The trade was a 3.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,753 shares of company stock worth $20,351,084 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.09% 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.