Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Buys New Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 352 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $170,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MA. Cross Staff Investments Inc boosted its stake in Mastercard by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 3,148 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the period. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in Mastercard by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 490 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,853 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,350,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 24,452 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $10,429,000 after purchasing an additional 3,306 shares during the period. Finally, Dearborn Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 109,161 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $46,558,000 after acquiring an additional 8,955 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 300 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.23, for a total transaction of $134,169.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,817,095.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 151,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.55, for a total transaction of $68,335,050.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 95,930,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,413,260,885.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.23, for a total transaction of $134,169.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,063 shares in the company, valued at $1,817,095.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,462,228 shares of company stock valued at $1,110,349,560 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE MA traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $462.02. 3,808,080 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,706,904. The company has a market capitalization of $429.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $359.77 and a 52-week high of $490.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $446.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $456.63.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.09. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. Mastercard’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 20.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Argus upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $528.00 to $538.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $507.27.

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.