Lincoln National Corp Purchases 909 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Lincoln National Corp boosted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA – Get Rating) by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,859 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,249 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 6.7% during the second quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,352 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $742,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Well Done LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 9.0% in the second quarter. Well Done LLC now owns 884 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Aries Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 2nd quarter worth $387,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 135,993 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $38,668,000 after purchasing an additional 6,905 shares during the period. 74.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 7,064 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.00, for a total value of $2,260,480.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,586,240. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 7,064 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.00, for a total value of $2,260,480.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,586,240. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 6,333 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.05, for a total value of $2,406,856.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,701,385.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 367,819 shares of company stock worth $117,733,271. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MA. Moffett Nathanson reduced their target price on shares of Mastercard to $420.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $416.00 to $370.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 11th. Credit Suisse Group upped their price target on Mastercard from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 28th. Atlantic Securities lowered their price objective on Mastercard from $400.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $405.23.

Mastercard Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $376.28 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $276.87 and a twelve month high of $399.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $353.48 and a 200 day moving average of $334.63. The stock has a market cap of $361.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 27th. The credit services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.22% and a return on equity of 148.94%. The firm had revenue of $5.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.66 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 10.56 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 9th. Investors of record on Monday, January 9th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This is a boost from Mastercard’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 6th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.78%.

About Mastercard

(Get Rating)

Mastercard, Inc operates as a technology company. The firm engages in the payments industry that connects consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and business. It offers payment solutions for the development and implementation of credit, debit, prepaid, commercial and payment programs.