Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Stake Boosted by Echo45 Advisors LLC

Echo45 Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 20.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 699 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. Echo45 Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cypress Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 864 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,996 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 1,037 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 598 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Cassia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,240 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.3 %

MA traded down $5.77 during trading on Thursday, reaching $454.39. 1,996,339 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,406,496. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $357.85 and a one year 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $423.90 billion, a PE ratio of 38.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $471.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $433.21.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $435.00, for a total transaction of $1,740,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,712,225. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Mastercard news, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $435.00, for a total transaction of $1,740,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,235 shares in the company, valued at $2,712,225. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 13,542 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.06, for a total transaction of $6,230,132.52. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 46,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,388,649.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,728 shares of company stock valued at $19,479,753 over the last ninety days. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $452.00 to $504.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $510.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.