Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Purchases 174 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 20.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,027 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MA. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 65 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $544.74 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $496.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year 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 50 day simple moving average of $549.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $525.90.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 21.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Company 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.