Vega Investment Solutions Acquires New Shares in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Vega Investment Solutions acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,642 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $865,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Whalerock Point Partners LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC now owns 14,678 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $7,729,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Mastercard by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,237 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $35,932,000 after buying an additional 2,931 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 71,862 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $37,841,000 after buying an additional 1,194 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC grew its position in Mastercard by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 5,612 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,955,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $6,022,224,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. This represents a 15.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $580.00, for a total value of $87,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,255 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,887,900. This represents a 4.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,207 shares of company stock valued at $12,664,529 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MA. Macquarie reduced their target price on Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group cut their price objective on Mastercard from $660.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. DZ Bank upgraded Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $620.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $606.25.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.0%

MA opened at $569.74 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $539.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $537.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $519.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.02, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $588.45.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. Mastercard's quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.31 EPS. Analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current 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.

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