Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 221,417 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,397,147 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 221,417 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,958,284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 10Elms LLP acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $569.18 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $449.04 and a twelve month high of $594.71. The stock has a market cap of $518.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s fifty day moving average is $564.40 and its 200 day moving average is $552.67.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.95 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 200.01%. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.50 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 20.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MA. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $656.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Macquarie lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.33.

Insider Activity

In other Mastercard news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,428 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.05, for a total transaction of $3,328,555.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 58,451 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,636,125.55. This represents a 13.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $536,480.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 23,624 shares in the company, valued at $13,229,440. This trade represents a 3.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,603 shares of company stock worth $20,265,667. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.