TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Buys 623 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 107,622 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 623 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $56,735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,497,160,000 after purchasing an additional 138,842 shares in the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank increased its position in Mastercard by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 4,990 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,464,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Advisory Resource Group raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% during the third quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 2,276 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,124,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 18.5% in the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 3,105 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,035 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,493,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at $46,692,629.36. This represents a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.8 %

Mastercard stock opened at $517.46 on Monday. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $582.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $537.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $529.26. The company has a market capitalization of $471.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 target price (up from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $607.96.

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.