Donaldson Capital Management LLC Boosts Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 15,422 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,460 shares during the quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $6,578,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake 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 worth $12,632,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303,477 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake 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 worth $5,509,328,000 after acquiring an additional 2,385,640 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $3,308,223,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,075,358 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,593,025,000 after acquiring an additional 251,516 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 3.9% in the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 8,420,213 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,311,670,000 after acquiring an additional 318,077 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value 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 approximately $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value 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 approximately $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 98 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $439.52, for a total value of $43,072.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,235 shares in the company, valued at $2,740,407.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 41,728 shares of company stock valued at $19,479,753. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 1.2 %

MA traded down $5.59 during trading on Monday, hitting $459.79. 2,070,275 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,428,621. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $471.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $432.15. The firm has a market cap of $428.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.08. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $357.85 and a 1 year high of $490.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 191.22% and a net margin of 44.60%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 22.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Mastercard from $504.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $545.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $485.91.

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.