Financial Consulate Inc. Sells 170 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Financial Consulate Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA – Get Rating) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,774 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 170 shares during the period. Financial Consulate Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $965,000 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. Bishop Rock Capital L.P. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 32,213.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bishop Rock Capital L.P. now owns 4,889,940 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $15,500,000 after acquiring an additional 4,874,807 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Mastercard by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,909,008 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $8,489,253,000 after acquiring an additional 3,102,135 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth $237,635,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Mastercard by 56.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,925,743 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $547,566,000 after acquiring an additional 696,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,259,535 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $21,967,977,000 after purchasing an additional 568,155 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.51% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $349.66 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $365.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $340.41. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $276.87 and a 52 week high of $390.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $333.31 billion, a PE ratio of 34.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The credit services provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.56 by $0.09. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.65% and a return on equity of 158.38%. The firm had revenue of $5.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 7th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 5th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MA shares. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $406.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $456.00 to $441.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 15th. Redburn Partners started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Tuesday, November 29th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $437.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $365.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $413.41.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 6,333 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.05, for a total value of $2,406,856.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 41,314 shares in the company, valued at $15,701,385.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 6,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.05, for a total transaction of $2,406,856.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 41,314 shares in the company, valued at $15,701,385.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Hai Ling sold 8,220 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.31, for a total transaction of $2,928,868.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 26,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,440,789.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 655,522 shares of company stock worth $242,724,561 over the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Mastercard

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Mastercard, Inc is a technology company, which engages in the payments industry that connects consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments, and business. It offers payment solutions for the development and implementation of credit, debit, prepaid, commercial, and payment programs. The company was founded in November 1966 and is headquartered in Purchase, NY.