Clune & Associates LTD. Purchases Shares of 579 Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Clune & Associates LTD. acquired a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 579 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MA. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Mastercard by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,765,714 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $2,846,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,965,782 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $837,017,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 79,739.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,555,277 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $818,962,000 after buying an additional 1,553,329 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,355,081 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $10,545,139,000 after buying an additional 700,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,079,915 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,674,932,000 after buying an additional 581,697 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on MA shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Macquarie raised their price objective on Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $606.11.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,292.32. This trade represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE MA traded up $10.70 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $559.77. 1,152,047 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,369,043. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $582.23. The stock has a market cap of $510.35 billion, a PE ratio of 40.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. 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 company's fifty day moving average is $549.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $526.06.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is 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.