Rothschild Capital Partners LLC Invests $506,000 in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Rothschild Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 960 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $506,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,179,138 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $40,640,219,000 after buying an additional 377,302 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,267,937 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $11,725,627,000 after purchasing an additional 912,856 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,657,792 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $9,800,202,000 after purchasing an additional 282,739 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,022,224,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Mastercard by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,760,740 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $5,139,713,000 after purchasing an additional 817,836 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 84,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Mastercard from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup raised their target price on Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays raised their target price on Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $607.96.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA traded up $2.16 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $536.65. 780,823 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,881,986. The stock has a market cap of $489.26 billion, a PE ratio of 38.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. 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 Incorporated has a 12 month low of $428.86 and a 12 month high of $582.23. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $533.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $530.55.

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 for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. 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 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.