Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Purchased by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 193,601 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,226 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $101,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,796 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $946,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. R.H. Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth $6,630,000. Rockingstone Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 4,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,594,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 422 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sawyer & Company Inc increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 6,967 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,668,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MA shares. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 price target (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. 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 target for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.25.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $581.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $530.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.88, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $583.50. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $534.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $534.95.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. The company had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.31 EPS. Mastercard’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at $46,692,629.36. This represents a 15.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $3,813,337.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,207 shares of company stock worth $12,664,529. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.