Costello Asset Management INC Makes New Investment in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,837 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,007,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 65,631.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,508,636,000 after buying an additional 8,213,123 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,149,181 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,817,684,000 after acquiring an additional 1,207,787 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $617,303,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $561,313,000. Finally, Demars Financial Group LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 50,438.6% during the 4th quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 981,460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $516,807,000 after acquiring an additional 979,518 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 1,100 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $546.77, for a total value of $601,447.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 12,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,064,815.17. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total transaction of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,753 shares of company stock valued at $20,351,084 in the last quarter. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MA. Evercore ISI started coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $550.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 target price on Mastercard in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.33.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $569.73 on Tuesday. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $439.59 and a twelve month high of $594.71. The stock has a market cap of $519.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The company’s fifty day moving average is $564.69 and its 200-day moving average is $552.46.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results 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. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%. The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

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

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.