Nuveen Asset Management LLC Purchases 71,874 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,610,333 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 71,874 shares during the quarter. Mastercard comprises approximately 1.1% of Nuveen Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned 0.83% of Mastercard worth $4,007,373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whalerock Point Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC now owns 14,678 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,729,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $35,932,000 after buying an additional 2,931 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 71,862 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $37,841,000 after buying an additional 1,194 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth about $3,867,000. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 5,612 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 target price (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.25.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,207 shares of company stock worth $12,664,529. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE MA opened at $576.46 on Wednesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $582.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $525.56 billion, a PE ratio of 41.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a fifty day moving average of $533.09 and a 200 day moving average of $534.18.

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

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.