Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. Has $90,000 Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 200.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 210 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $90,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Barometer Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 661.5% in the third quarter. Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 134 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $545.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $432.00 to $499.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $490.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.46, for a total transaction of $49,863,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 97,215,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,472,114,797.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.46, for a total transaction of $49,863,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 97,215,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,472,114,797.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 13,542 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.06, for a total transaction of $6,230,132.52. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,388,649.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 257,630 shares of company stock valued at $118,303,470. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Mastercard stock traded up $5.87 on Tuesday, hitting $462.62. The stock had a trading volume of 2,027,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,400,298. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $471.71 and a 200 day moving average of $435.26. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $357.85 and a twelve month high of $490.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $431.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.11, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.08.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 191.22% and a net margin of 44.60%. The company had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.32%.

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.