AIA Group Ltd Has $16.24 Million Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,848 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,838 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in Mastercard were worth $16,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% in the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 2,805,554 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,385,383,000 after buying an additional 62,891 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its position in 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 valued at $194,141,000 after acquiring an additional 9,611 shares during the last quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 4.5% in the fourth 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 during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 15.6% during 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. grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,497,160,000 after purchasing an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $640.00 price objective (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Mastercard from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $640.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $606.11.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the company'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 sale, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total value of $8,678,774.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 2.9 %

NYSE:MA traded down $16.02 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $531.36. The company had a trading volume of 2,219,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,548,662. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $551.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $528.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $484.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.30, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard's payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.