Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Boosts Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,553 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,280 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,091,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 74.3% during the 3rd quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 2,111 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $836,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 4,983 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,973,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,898 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,523,000 after purchasing an additional 3,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baystate Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 55.8% during the 3rd quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,426 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $565,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $478.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $520.00 to $510.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Two research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $496.27.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total transaction of $97,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 97,543,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total value of $7,632,649.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 12,255 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,644.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 725,088 shares of company stock valued at $329,657,858 in the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock traded up $5.79 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $449.37. 2,535,476 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,473,001. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $357.85 and a 52-week high of $490.00. The stock has a market cap of $419.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $469.57 and its 200 day moving average is $438.31.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.34 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 183.70% and a net margin of 46.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is currently 20.99%.

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.