Giverny Capital Inc. Acquires 729 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Giverny Capital Inc. grew its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,275 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the quarter. Giverny Capital Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $13,836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 65 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $635.00 target price (up previously from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup raised their price target on Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $607.96.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the business'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 transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of MA stock traded up $4.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $517.46. 3,329,748 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,621,853. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $582.23. The firm has a market cap of $471.77 billion, a PE ratio of 37.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company's 50 day moving average is $538.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $528.64.

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 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, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.89%.

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.