Westover Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 338 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Westover Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 37.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the period. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Barometer Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter worth $36,000. Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 661.5% during the third quarter. Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 134 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.4 %

MA stock traded down $1.73 during trading on Thursday, reaching $440.34. The company had a trading volume of 2,717,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,442,954. The business has a 50 day moving average of $470.78 and a 200 day moving average of $437.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $410.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.36, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.08. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $357.85 and a 52 week high of $490.00.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.34 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 191.22% and a net margin of 44.60%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors 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 0.60%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 22.32%.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total value of $3,736,447.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 47,640 shares in the company, valued at $22,672,828.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total transaction of $3,736,447.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 47,640 shares in the company, valued at $22,672,828.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 114,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.57, for a total value of $52,732,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,767,308 shares in the company, valued at $44,761,653,661.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 467,088 shares of company stock valued at $215,249,338 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MA. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $510.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Two research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.55.

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.