Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Purchased by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 51.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,954 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 1,006 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,555,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 483.3% during the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 70 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Mastercard by 72.5% in the 4th quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 88 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % 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. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, March 10th. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $640.00 price objective (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $620.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of MA stock traded up $8.13 during trading on Monday, hitting $543.82. 2,758,521 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,377,777. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $582.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $495.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $547.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $524.95. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share 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, research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

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 paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

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.