Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Acquired by Alps Advisors Inc.

Alps Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,211 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Mastercard were worth $37,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MA. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,022,224,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 65,631.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $4,508,636,000 after acquiring an additional 8,213,123 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,149,181 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $4,817,684,000 after acquiring an additional 1,207,787 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $617,303,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $561,313,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $633.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $550.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Macquarie lowered their price target on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $611.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 959 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $572.86, for a total value of $549,372.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 25,540 shares in the company, valued at $14,630,844.40. This trade represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Julius Genachowski sold 312 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.67, for a total transaction of $178,049.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,833,004.23. This trade represents a 3.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 38,753 shares of company stock valued at $20,351,084. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.1%

MA stock traded down $0.77 during trading on Thursday, hitting $564.34. 2,577,223 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,669,861. The firm has a market capitalization of $514.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.57, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $568.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $547.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $594.71.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.21% and a return on equity of 196.87%. Mastercard's revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard's payout ratio is 21.32%.

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.