Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Acquired by Oarsman Capital Inc.

Oarsman Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,262 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,497,160,000 after purchasing an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. Sora Investors LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sora Investors LLC now owns 35,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,283,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc grew its stake in Mastercard by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 19,020 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,392,000 after buying an additional 588 shares during the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd increased its position in Mastercard by 2.3% during the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,385,383,000 after buying an additional 62,891 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 21.8% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,917 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,835,000 after buying an additional 3,562 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available through this link. Also, 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 value of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Trading Down 7.7 %

Shares of MA opened at $489.94 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $550.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $528.08. The stock has a market cap of $446.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06.

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

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MA. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie upped their price target on Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.11.

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.