Sanders Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,172,310 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $617,303,000. Sanders Capital LLC owned about 0.13% of Mastercard as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 368,690 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $194,141,000 after acquiring an additional 9,611 shares during the last quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $35,932,000 after acquiring an additional 2,931 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,510,756 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,325,353,000 after acquiring an additional 337,905 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 138,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 71,862 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $37,841,000 after acquiring an additional 1,194 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MA shares. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Mastercard from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Susquehanna raised their target price on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $640.00 target price (up previously from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $607.96.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA stock traded up $4.03 on Friday, reaching $517.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,329,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,621,853. 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 Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $582.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $538.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $528.64. The company has a market capitalization of $471.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. As a group, analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date 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.