Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Sells 285 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 53,475 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 285 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up 1.0% of Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $22,808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Cypress Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 864 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $369,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,996 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $851,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors raised its stake in Mastercard by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 1,037 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $442,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO raised its stake in Mastercard by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 598 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tufton Capital Management raised its stake in Mastercard by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 604 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.78, for a total transaction of $50,443,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,996,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,887,951,416.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.78, for a total transaction of $50,443,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 96,996,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,887,951,416.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,672,828.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 366,630 shares of company stock worth $168,746,490 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock traded up $0.87 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $462.98. The stock had a trading volume of 894,223 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,396,260. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $471.46 and its 200 day moving average is $435.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $431.91 billion, a PE ratio of 39.07, a PEG ratio of 1.76 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 company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. The business had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on MA. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $432.00 to $499.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $452.00 to $504.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $545.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.