Heck Capital Advisors LLC Takes $536,000 Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,018 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $536,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Mastercard by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,179,138 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $40,640,219,000 after acquiring an additional 377,302 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,267,937 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $11,725,627,000 after purchasing an additional 912,856 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,657,792 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $9,800,202,000 after purchasing an additional 282,739 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,022,224,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 9.1% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 817,836 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MA. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Mastercard from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $605.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $633.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $608.57.

Insider Activity

In other Mastercard news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the business's 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. The trade was a 15.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 23,207 shares of company stock worth $12,664,529. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of MA traded up $5.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $583.27. The company had a trading volume of 4,581,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,610,146. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $543.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $539.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The stock has a market cap of $531.77 billion, a PE ratio of 41.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-year high of $588.45.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. The company had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.31 EPS. Mastercard's revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.