Advisory Services Network LLC Trims Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Advisory Services Network LLC lowered its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,802 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 1,335 shares during the quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $23,065,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MA. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 138,842 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $230,000. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% in the third quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $690,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Mastercard by 0.7% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 698,210 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $344,776,000 after purchasing an additional 4,861 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in Mastercard by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 19,897 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,825,000 after acquiring an additional 672 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $485.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $549.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $528.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $442.39 billion, a PE ratio of 34.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $607.07.

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.