Trueblood Wealth Management LLC Takes $544,000 Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Trueblood Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,276 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $544,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,308,223,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 111,819.8% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,983,231 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,080,549,000 after buying an additional 5,977,885 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,843,692 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,509,328,000 after buying an additional 2,385,640 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 145.7% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,960,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,164,263,000 after buying an additional 1,755,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.9% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,759,814 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $12,632,032,000 after buying an additional 1,303,477 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on MA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Mastercard from $425.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Monness Crespi & Hardt started coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $510.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $479.62.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA stock traded up $3.62 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $481.57. 2,210,995 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,443,021. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $449.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $464.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $426.46. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $355.82 and a 12 month high of $490.00.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 191.22% and a net margin of 44.60%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.32%.

Mastercard announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $11.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total transaction of $97,450.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 98 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $439.52, for a total value of $43,072.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,740,407.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares in the company, valued at $47,527,976,823. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 50,628 shares of company stock valued at $23,309,067. 0.13% of the stock is 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.