Freestone Grove Partners LP Acquires Shares of 4,163 Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,163 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,192,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MA. Unisphere Establishment grew its stake in Mastercard by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 300,000 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $157,971,000 after acquiring an additional 87,300 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 7,955 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $4,189,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Wick Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth about $1,654,000. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,617,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $606.25.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of MA traded up $7.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $566.11. The company had a trading volume of 2,384,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,607,250. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $532.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $532.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $582.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $516.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Mastercard's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.32%.

Insider Activity

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total value of $8,678,774.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

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.