Shepherd Financial Partners LLC Acquires 189 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Shepherd Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,777 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,070,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,692,629.36. This trade represents a 15.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.45, for a total value of $85,417.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,024,394.75. This trade represents a 4.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 40,513 shares of company stock valued at $23,166,463 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MA. Macquarie cut their price target on Mastercard from $645.00 to $610.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $550.00 price objective for the company. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen cut Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $650.00 to $652.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $610.00.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock opened at $569.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $519.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $558.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $544.46. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $594.71.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.16. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.21% and a return on equity of 196.87%. The company had revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

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.