Pennington Partners & CO. LLC Purchases New Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Pennington Partners & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 937 shares of the credit services provider's stock, valued at approximately $494,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Mastercard by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 65 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn cut Mastercard from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Macquarie lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $606.25.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MA traded up $1.58 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $560.97. 2,130,866 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,608,484. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $532.33 and a 200 day moving average of $531.61. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $582.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The stock has a market cap of $511.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.12 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.31 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid 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 payout ratio is currently 21.32%.

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.