Syverson Strege & Co Buys New Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Syverson Strege & Co purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 412 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 65 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MA shares. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. DZ Bank raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $640.00 target price (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $543.82 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $582.23. 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 cap of $495.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.15, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $548.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $525.42.

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

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

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.