Fund 1 Investments LLC Invests $329,000 in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Fund 1 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 625 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $329,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,179,138 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $40,640,219,000 after buying an additional 377,302 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,267,937 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,725,627,000 after acquiring an additional 912,856 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,657,792 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,800,202,000 after acquiring an additional 282,739 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,022,224,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,760,740 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,139,713,000 after purchasing an additional 817,836 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MA. Macquarie cut their target price on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Mastercard from $660.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup increased their target price on Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.25.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $568.38 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. 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 P/E ratio of 40.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $532.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $533.09.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.31 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total value of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. This represents a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.