Sargent Investment Group LLC Increases Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 69.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,513 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,843 shares during the quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at about $202,000. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 29.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,988 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $787,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 4,289 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Covenant Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 3rd quarter valued at about $395,000. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 83.7% in the third quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,945 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,958,000 after buying an additional 2,253 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $452.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.23.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock traded up $0.31 on Friday, reaching $462.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,963,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,212,406. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $471.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $436.35. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $357.85 and a 1 year high of $490.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The company has a market capitalization of $431.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.08.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.32%.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total transaction of $97,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total transaction of $97,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total transaction of $7,632,649.78. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 12,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,644.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 366,630 shares of company stock valued at $168,746,490. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.