Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Has $46.11 Million Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership trimmed its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 87,563 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 9,510 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $46,108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 65 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 483.3% during the 4th quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 70 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. This trade 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at $46,692,629.36. This trade represents a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Stock Down 3.0 %

Mastercard stock opened at $540.57 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $492.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.92, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $582.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $550.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $526.65.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

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.