Peachtree Investment Partners LLC Has $7.39 Million Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Peachtree Investment Partners LLC cut its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,043 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 129 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up 2.8% of Peachtree Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Peachtree Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $194,141,000 after acquiring an additional 9,611 shares in the last quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $35,932,000 after buying an additional 2,931 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,325,353,000 after purchasing an additional 337,905 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,497,160,000 after acquiring an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 71,862 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $37,841,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.9 %

Mastercard stock opened at $485.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $442.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $549.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $528.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $582.23.

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

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total value of $8,678,774.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. This trade represents a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MA. UBS Group upped their target price on Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $633.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Macquarie increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $607.07.

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.