Cypress Advisory Group LLC Purchases New Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Cypress Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,178 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,147,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 493 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,135 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,651,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Services of America Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Services of America Inc. now owns 475 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,797 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 2,245 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,182,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total value of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. This trade represents a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 price target (up from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $607.96.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $547.58 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $499.23 billion, a PE ratio of 39.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $582.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $532.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $530.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. Analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.89%.

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.