Whalerock Point Partners LLC Buys 185 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Whalerock Point Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,678 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Mastercard makes up 1.8% of Whalerock Point Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Whalerock Point Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $7,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 138,842 shares during the period. Passumpsic Savings Bank grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.9% during 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 holdings in Mastercard by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 2,276 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,124,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 18.5% during the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 3,105 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 4.2% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,035 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,493,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on MA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. DZ Bank upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $607.96.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of Mastercard 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:MA opened at $533.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $486.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $582.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $534.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $530.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. Analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

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.