4WEALTH Advisors Inc. Acquires New Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

4WEALTH Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 709 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $373,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MA. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 493 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,135 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,651,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Services of America Inc. raised its stake in Mastercard by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Services of America Inc. now owns 475 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,797 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Finally, Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC increased its stake in Mastercard by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 2,245 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at $46,692,629.36. This trade represents a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,459,292.32. This 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 company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.2 %

MA stock opened at $546.81 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $532.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $531.01. The company has a market capitalization of $498.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week 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.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. The firm had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.31 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard's payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $607.96.

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.

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