Seven Mile Advisory Buys 208 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Seven Mile Advisory increased its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,581 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 0.9% of Seven Mile Advisory’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Seven Mile Advisory’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% during the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,385,383,000 after buying an additional 62,891 shares during the last quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $194,141,000 after purchasing an additional 9,611 shares in the last quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $35,932,000 after purchasing an additional 2,931 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,325,353,000 after purchasing an additional 337,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,497,160,000 after buying an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 represents a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $540.57 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $550.58 and a 200 day moving average of $527.19. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

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.