Coign Capital Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 1,318 Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Coign Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,318 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $694,000.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Macquarie raised their price objective on Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp increased their target price on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Mastercard from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $607.96.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE MA traded down $2.94 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $514.44. 1,210,787 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,920,885. The stock has a market cap of $469.02 billion, a PE ratio of 37.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $540.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $528.58. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS 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%. Analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.89%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. This trade represents a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Mastercard

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.