Tsai Capital Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Tsai Capital Corp lessened its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,071 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 76 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 2.3% of Tsai Capital Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Tsai Capital Corp’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $3,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 65 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Macquarie lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $8,678,774.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. This represents a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock opened at $540.57 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $550.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $526.65. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $582.23. The firm has a market cap of $492.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. 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 earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.