FIL Ltd Acquires 191,038 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 24.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 959,747 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 191,038 shares during the period. FIL Ltd owned about 0.10% of Mastercard worth $505,374,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Addison Advisors LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 493 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,135 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,651,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Services of America Inc. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Services of America Inc. now owns 475 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,797 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 2,245 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was 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 directly owns 34,524 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the business'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 value of $8,678,774.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $607.96.

Mastercard Stock Up 2.1 %

MA traded up $10.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $509.66. The company had a trading volume of 3,735,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,610,523. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $542.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $528.53. The company has a market capitalization of $464.66 billion, a PE ratio of 36.69, a PEG 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. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year 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, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.89%.

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.