527 Shares in Mastercard Incorporated $MA Purchased by Aspire Growth Partners LLC

Key Points

• Aspire Growth Partners LLC invested $298,000 in Mastercard Incorporated, acquiring 527 shares during the first quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus target price of $617.93 for Mastercard, with 24 analysts rating it as a "*Buy*" and two rating it as a "*Strong Buy*."
• Mastercard recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 20.50%.

Aspire Growth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 527 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $3,594,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 70,472 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $37,108,000 after buying an additional 7,452 shares during the period. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth about $73,000. Trustco Bank Corp N Y acquired a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Finally, Optivise Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth $202,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $639.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $660.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on Mastercard from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $617.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 959 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.86, for a total value of $549,372.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 25,540 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,630,844.40. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 17,816 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $586.89, for a total value of $10,456,032.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,234 shares in the company, valued at $18,330,922.26. This trade represents a 36.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 56,269 shares of company stock worth $30,634,699. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MA traded up $6.2280 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $598.1480. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,388,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,623,511. The firm has a market cap of $540.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $461.90 and a 1-year high of $601.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $564.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $555.73.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The credit services provider reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 200.01% and a net margin of 44.93%.The firm had revenue of $8.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.50 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th were issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is 20.50%.

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.