Townsquare Capital LLC Buys 7,124 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 129,846 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,124 shares during the quarter. Mastercard accounts for about 0.8% of Townsquare Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $68,373,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Crux Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at $868,000. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC now owns 1,799 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $947,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 60.9% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,957 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,913,000 after purchasing an additional 1,498 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Mastercard by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 183,348 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $96,515,000 after purchasing an additional 18,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Petros Family Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $303,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MA. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $633.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Mastercard from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $620.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $607.96.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the firm'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. This trade represents a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 shares were 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MA stock traded up $4.03 on Thursday, hitting $517.46. The stock had a trading volume of 3,329,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,618,333. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $539.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $528.48. 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 cap of $471.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.25, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Mastercard Company 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.