New England Research & Management Inc. Acquires 1,125 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

New England Research & Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 194.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,705 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,125 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Metropolis Capital Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 23.9% during the 1st quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 377,235 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $206,770,000 after acquiring an additional 72,790 shares during the last quarter. Kelly Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 1st quarter worth approximately $764,000. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 3,821 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,094,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 638 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,731 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,593,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 14,051 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $585.05, for a total value of $8,220,537.55. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 58,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,196,757.55. This represents a 19.38% 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. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at $46,692,629.36. This represents a 15.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 46,686 shares of company stock valued at $26,430,428. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 4.7%

Shares of MA stock opened at $561.50 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-year high of $594.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $555.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $543.88. 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 $511.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.05.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.25 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.31 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MA. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup lifted 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. Macquarie decreased their target price on Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $633.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned 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 $610.00.

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.