Greenwood Gearhart Inc. Invests $364,000 in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Greenwood Gearhart Inc. acquired a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 692 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $364,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,179,138 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $40,640,219,000 after purchasing an additional 377,302 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,267,937 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $11,725,627,000 after acquiring an additional 912,856 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,657,792 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $9,800,202,000 after acquiring an additional 282,739 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,022,224,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Mastercard by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,760,740 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $5,139,713,000 after purchasing an additional 817,836 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price 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. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $620.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Mastercard from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Mastercard from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $607.96.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.9 %

MA stock traded down $9.63 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $507.70. 873,022 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,917,176. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $582.23. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $537.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $529.26. The company has a market capitalization of $462.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.55, 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 (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. Equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued 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 0.60%. Mastercard's payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.