Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Acquired by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 30,307 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,887 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $12,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MA. Cypress Wealth Services LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 864 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,996 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $851,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 1,037 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $442,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 598 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cassia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.1% in the third quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,240 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $491,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $545.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $535.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $490.23.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 98 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $439.52, for a total value of $43,072.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,235 shares in the company, valued at $2,740,407.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 98 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $439.52, for a total value of $43,072.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,235 shares in the company, valued at $2,740,407.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 13,542 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.06, for a total transaction of $6,230,132.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,388,649.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,728 shares of company stock worth $19,479,753. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA stock traded down $5.16 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $455.00. 1,236,198 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,395,952. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $357.85 and a twelve month high of $490.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $471.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $433.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $424.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.08.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 191.22% and a net margin of 44.60%. The company had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 22.32%.

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.