Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by Phoenix Financial Ltd.

Phoenix Financial Ltd. cut its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,737 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 1,483 shares during the quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $30,932,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 440 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Mastercard by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 37,723 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $19,864,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. Faithward Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 2,290 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,206,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 459.7% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 803,500 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $408,594,000 after purchasing an additional 659,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction 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 owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. This trade represents a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Mastercard stock traded up $6.18 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $518.64. 910,866 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,605,516. The stock has a market capitalization of $472.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.34, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $541.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $528.66.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. DZ Bank raised Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $620.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $607.96.

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.