Cetera Investment Advisers Has $115.45 Million Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 219,249 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,221 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Mastercard were worth $115,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 65 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Tigress Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Macquarie decreased their price target on Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $606.25.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE MA opened at $560.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $511.44 billion, a PE ratio of 40.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The business's 50-day moving average price is $532.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $531.92. 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.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.31 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is presently 21.32%.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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