Whelan Financial Raises Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Whelan Financial lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 119.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,016 shares of the credit services provider's stock after buying an additional 552 shares during the quarter. Whelan Financial's holdings in Mastercard were worth $557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 10Elms LLP bought a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its position in Mastercard by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 65 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $655.00 price objective on Mastercard in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $611.50.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE MA traded down $2.57 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $562.55. 1,059,408 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,663,758. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $567.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $547.10. 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 52 week low of $428.86 and a 52 week high of $594.71. The stock has a market cap of $512.88 billion, a PE ratio of 39.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.02.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 196.87% and a net margin of 45.21%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.31 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, Director Julius Genachowski sold 310 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.00, for a total transaction of $173,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,323 shares in the company, valued at $4,669,203. This represents a 3.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,428 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.05, for a total value of $3,328,555.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 58,451 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,636,125.55. This represents a 13.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,441 shares of company stock valued at $20,173,035 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

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.