Captrust Financial Advisors Acquires 22,705 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 411,870 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 22,705 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors' holdings in Mastercard were worth $216,878,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,954,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $30,501,000. Caxton Associates LP boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 344.1% during the fourth quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 3,397 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,789,000 after buying an additional 2,632 shares during the period. Chapman Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Mastercard by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 541,847 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $285,320,000 after buying an additional 12,601 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group lowered their price target on Mastercard from $660.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Six 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, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $606.25.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $18,459,292.32. This represents 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 Price Performance

MA stock traded up $7.12 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $566.11. 2,493,698 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,608,299. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $582.23. The company has a market cap of $516.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.76, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $532.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $532.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Mastercard's payout ratio is 21.32%.

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.