Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Sold by T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,265,654 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 88,803 shares during the period. Mastercard accounts for about 0.7% of T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.25% of Mastercard worth $1,193,026,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its position in 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 worth $194,141,000 after buying an additional 9,611 shares during the period. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.5% during the fourth 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 during 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 71,862 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $37,841,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MA shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Susquehanna boosted 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. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $607.96.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,692,629.36. This represents a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the firm'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 owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.4 %

Mastercard stock traded down $2.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $533.26. The company had a trading volume of 2,006,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,625,192. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $428.86 and a 12-month high of $582.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $534.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $529.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $486.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.39, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (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, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

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.