ProShare Advisors LLC Buys 14,226 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA - Free Report) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 193,601 shares of the credit services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,226 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Mastercard were worth $101,944,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,726 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 87,625 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $46,141,000 after purchasing an additional 14,426 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $6,371,000. Nia Impact Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 5,675 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $2,988,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 65.6% during the 4th quarter. Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd. now owns 90,327 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $47,563,000 after purchasing an additional 35,785 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was 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 $46,692,629.36. This trade represents a 15.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 150 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.45, for a total value of $85,417.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,555 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,024,394.75. This trade represents a 4.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,207 shares of company stock worth $12,664,529 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $550.00 price target for the company. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $606.25.

Mastercard Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE MA traded down $5.74 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $580.67. The stock had a trading volume of 1,964,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,603,561. The stock has a market cap of $529.40 billion, a PE ratio of 41.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $588.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $536.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $536.43.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $7.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.31 earnings per share. Mastercard's revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

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.