New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Acquires 6,700 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 15.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,210 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 6,700 shares during the period. Mastercard comprises approximately 0.8% of New Mexico Educational Retirement Board's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board's holdings in Mastercard were worth $24,180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 87.4% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 536 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 3,148 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,343,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 49,539 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $21,129,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 12,124 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $5,171,000 after acquiring an additional 2,337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 490 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.15, for a total transaction of $50,743,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 97,432,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,541,179,602.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.15, for a total transaction of $50,743,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 97,432,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,541,179,602.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.23, for a total transaction of $134,169.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 4,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,817,095.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,163,228 shares of company stock worth $1,428,540,870. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MA shares. Barclays cut their target price on Mastercard from $549.00 to $530.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Mastercard from $540.00 to $525.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating and set a $535.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen started coverage on Mastercard in a report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $545.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Mastercard from $536.00 to $524.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given 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 a consensus target price of $496.91.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA traded down $1.59 on Friday, hitting $441.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,105,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,467,253. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $451.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $453.31. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $359.77 and a fifty-two week high of $490.00. The company has a market capitalization of $410.11 billion, a PE ratio of 35.07, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.09.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.09. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.09% and a return on equity of 183.70%. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. Mastercard's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.99%.

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.