Tufton Capital Management Increases Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Tufton Capital Management increased its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 604 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Barometer Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Mastercard by 661.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock traded down $1.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $459.09. The company had a trading volume of 515,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,385,876. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $357.85 and a 52-week high of $490.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $471.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $433.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $428.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.08.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 22.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MA. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $510.00 price target on shares of Mastercard in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $432.00 to $499.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $452.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $490.23.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total transaction of $7,632,649.78. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 12,255 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,644.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares in the company, valued at $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total transaction of $7,632,649.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now 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 a total of 41,728 shares of company stock valued at $19,479,753 over the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.