UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,209 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises 1.2% of UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its stake in Mastercard by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $194,141,000 after buying an additional 9,611 shares during the period. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $35,932,000 after purchasing an additional 2,931 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,325,353,000 after buying an additional 337,905 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% in 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 buying an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,194 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MA. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $633.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, March 10th. Macquarie boosted their price target on Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $607.96.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.1 %

Mastercard stock opened at $535.66 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $534.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $529.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $428.86 and a 12 month high of $582.23. The stock has a market cap of $488.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06.

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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.