First Trust Advisors LP Buys 47,759 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,009,513 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 47,759 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises 0.5% of First Trust Advisors LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $531,579,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its stake in Mastercard by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 4,304 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,266,000 after buying an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Frederick Financial Consultants LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $523,000. Generation Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $566,000. GeoWealth Management LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 13,139 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Ltd. CA lifted its stake in Mastercard by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 53,922 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $28,394,000 after purchasing an additional 2,587 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn cut Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $633.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $607.96.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $517.46 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $537.86 and a 200-day moving average of $528.79. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $582.23. The stock has a market cap of $471.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. 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 (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors 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 0.59%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. This represents a 15.67 % 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, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.