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

Trueblood Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,276 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $544,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bollard Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Barometer Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the third quarter valued at $38,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MA. Monness Crespi & Hardt began coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $479.62.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total value of $3,736,447.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,640 shares in the company, valued at $22,672,828.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Mastercard news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 8,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.26, for a total transaction of $3,829,314.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,491 shares in the company, valued at $20,003,217.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total value of $3,736,447.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 47,640 shares in the company, valued at $22,672,828.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,628 shares of company stock worth $23,309,067 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of MA traded up $3.62 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $481.57. The stock had a trading volume of 2,210,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,443,021. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $355.82 and a 12 month high of $490.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $449.25 billion, a PE ratio of 40.74, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $464.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $426.46.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued 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. Mastercard had a return on equity of 191.22% and a net margin of 44.60%. The company had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 22.32%.

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

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.