Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Grows Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,189,795 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,237 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 1.2% of Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 2.09% of Mastercard worth $10,104,771,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,022,224,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth $837,017,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 79,739.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,555,277 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $818,962,000 after buying an additional 1,553,329 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at $617,303,000. Finally, Demars Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 50,438.6% in the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 981,460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $516,807,000 after acquiring an additional 979,518 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MA. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, March 10th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $607.96.

Mastercard Stock Up 3.7 %

MA stock opened at $527.99 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $481.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $428.86 and a 12 month high of $582.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $536.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $529.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total value of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. This represents a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, 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. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.