Whelan Financial Purchases 552 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Whelan Financial grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 119.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,016 shares of the credit services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the quarter. Whelan Financial's holdings in Mastercard were worth $557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $6,022,224,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 65,631.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,225,637 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $4,508,636,000 after acquiring an additional 8,213,123 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,149,181 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $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 during the fourth quarter worth about $617,303,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $561,313,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MA shares. Macquarie lowered their target price on Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $633.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price objective on Mastercard in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Evercore ISI began coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $550.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $611.50.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of MA stock traded up $2.68 on Wednesday, reaching $564.36. 1,616,832 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,674,072. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81. The business's 50 day moving average price is $567.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $547.21. The company has a market capitalization of $514.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.58, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.02. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $594.71.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 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 is Wednesday, July 9th. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 14,051 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $585.05, for a total value of $8,220,537.55. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 58,451 shares in the company, valued at $34,196,757.55. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Linda Pistecchia Kirkpatrick sold 959 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.86, for a total transaction of $549,372.74. Following the sale, the insider 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 38,753 shares of company stock worth $20,351,084. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by 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.