Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC cut its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,257 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 1,634 shares during the quarter. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $18,565,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,022,224,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $837,017,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 79,739.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,555,277 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $818,962,000 after buying an additional 1,553,329 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth $617,303,000. Finally, Demars Financial Group LLC increased its position in Mastercard by 50,438.6% during the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 981,460 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $516,807,000 after acquiring an additional 979,518 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MA. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Mastercard from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $633.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $607.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were 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 $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.2 %

MA stock traded down $0.88 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $547.19. 1,373,028 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,623,474. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $428.86 and a 1-year high of $582.23. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $532.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $530.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $498.87 billion, a PE ratio of 39.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.31 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard's payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

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.