Brave Asset Management Inc. Sells 44 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Brave Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,742 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 44 shares during the quarter. Brave Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $743,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MA. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,308,223,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 111,819.8% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,983,231 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,080,549,000 after acquiring an additional 5,977,885 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Mastercard by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,843,692 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,509,328,000 after acquiring an additional 2,385,640 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 145.7% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,960,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,164,263,000 after acquiring an additional 1,755,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in Mastercard by 3.9% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,759,814 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $12,632,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303,477 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock traded up $3.62 on Thursday, hitting $481.57. The stock had a trading volume of 2,207,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,443,068. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $355.82 and a twelve month high of $490.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $464.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $426.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The stock has a market cap of $449.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 191.22% and a net margin of 44.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $11.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 98 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $439.52, for a total transaction of $43,072.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,740,407.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 98 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $439.52, for a total transaction of $43,072.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,740,407.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 97,543,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,527,976,823. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,628 shares of company stock valued at $23,309,067 over the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Mastercard from $476.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Mastercard from $432.00 to $499.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Raymond James boosted their price target on Mastercard from $452.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $479.62.

About Mastercard

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.