Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Has $782.26 Million Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc trimmed its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,485,580 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 65,816 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises about 1.4% of Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $782,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,022,224,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $837,017,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 79,739.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,555,277 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $818,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553,329 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,149,181 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $4,817,684,000 after buying an additional 1,207,787 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $617,303,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on Mastercard from $660.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 price target (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.25.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $567.41 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $582.23. The company has a market capitalization of $517.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $531.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $532.71. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict 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. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, 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 in the company, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. This represents a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the business’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 transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the sale, 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 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.