Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Raises Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3,716.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 176,899 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 172,264 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises 0.5% of Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $93,150,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,796 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 62.9% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 228 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in Mastercard by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 177,726 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $93,585,000 after buying an additional 9,763 shares in the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,952 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,554,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $160,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MA. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Mastercard from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $635.00 price target (up previously from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 price target (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Macquarie lowered their price objective on Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA opened at $568.38 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $532.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $533.23. 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 Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $582.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $518.20 billion, a PE ratio of 40.92, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.32%.

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.