FourThought Financial Partners LLC Has $4.72 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,059 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $4,717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Mastercard by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,075,358 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,593,025,000 after purchasing an additional 251,516 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 6.9% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,966,348 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,153,957,000 after buying an additional 515,481 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 5.9% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,510,259 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,181,964,000 after buying an additional 306,663 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Mastercard by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,314,881 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,104,214,000 after buying an additional 56,642 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,557,530 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,804,372,000 after acquiring an additional 16,019 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares in the company, valued at $47,527,976,823. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total value of $3,736,447.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,672,828.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total transaction of $97,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sold 583,088 shares of company stock worth $266,873,978 in the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MA. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $535.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $524.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. 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. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Mastercard from $480.00 to $478.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.55.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock traded up $2.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $443.58. The company had a trading volume of 3,711,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,507,301. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $357.85 and a one year high of $490.00. The firm has a market cap of $413.81 billion, a PE ratio of 35.26, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $469.57 and a 200 day moving average of $437.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.34 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 183.70% and a net margin of 46.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 20.99%.

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.