511 Shares in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Purchased by GPM Growth Investors Inc.

GPM Growth Investors Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 511 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cypress Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 864 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $369,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,996 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $851,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 1,037 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO increased its stake in Mastercard by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 598 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tufton Capital Management raised its holdings in Mastercard by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 604 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MA traded down $3.87 on Tuesday, hitting $453.23. The company had a trading volume of 1,052,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,389,917. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $357.85 and a 1 year high of $490.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $471.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $437.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $422.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.08.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 114,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.57, for a total transaction of $52,732,980.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,767,308 shares in the company, valued at $44,761,653,661.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 114,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $462.57, for a total transaction of $52,732,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,767,308 shares in the company, valued at $44,761,653,661.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 13,542 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.06, for a total transaction of $6,230,132.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 46,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,388,649.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 480,630 shares of company stock valued at $221,479,470. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MA. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $504.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $490.23.

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.