Mosley Wealth Management Purchases 70 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Mosley Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 849 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Mosley Wealth Management’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,846,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,965,782 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $837,017,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 79,739.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,555,277 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $818,962,000 after buying an additional 1,553,329 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 3.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after purchasing an additional 700,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,079,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,674,932,000 after buying an additional 581,697 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie boosted their target price on Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 price objective (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $535.14 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $547.55 and a 200-day moving average of $524.65. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $582.23. The company has a market cap of $487.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.89%.

Mastercard Company 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.