National Bank of Canada FI Has $310.60 Million Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

National Bank of Canada FI cut its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 20.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 589,866 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 148,885 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.06% of Mastercard worth $310,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,497,160,000 after purchasing an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at $54,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at $893,000. Paloma Partners Management Co raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 82.0% during the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 1,294 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $639,000 after acquiring an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1,664.2% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 100,736 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $49,761,000 after acquiring an additional 95,026 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MA. Barclays lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Macquarie boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $640.00 target price (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $606.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 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 represents a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Down 7.7 %

Shares of MA traded down $40.61 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $489.94. The stock had a trading volume of 6,121,351 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,568,828. The firm has a market cap of $446.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $550.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $528.26. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $582.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

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 (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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

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 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.89%.

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

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.