Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Acquired by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,307 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,887 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $12,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MA. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter worth $25,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Barometer Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter worth $36,000. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 661.5% during the third quarter. Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA traded down $5.16 on Thursday, reaching $455.00. 1,236,198 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,395,952. The stock has a market cap of $424.46 billion, a PE ratio of 38.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.08. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $357.85 and a twelve month high of $490.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $471.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $433.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.36 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 22.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total transaction of $3,736,447.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 47,640 shares in the company, valued at $22,672,828.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,728 shares of company stock worth $19,479,753 in the last ninety days. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $432.00 to $499.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $452.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $504.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.23.

Mastercard 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.