Financial Symmetry Inc Makes New $203,000 Investment in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Financial Symmetry Inc bought a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 476 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at $3,308,223,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 111,819.8% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,983,231 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,080,549,000 after acquiring an additional 5,977,885 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 43,445.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,936,684 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,252,525,000 after buying an additional 2,929,940 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Mastercard by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,843,692 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,509,328,000 after buying an additional 2,385,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 145.7% in the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,960,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,164,263,000 after buying an additional 1,755,483 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total transaction of $3,736,447.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,672,828.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,672,828.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 transaction of $7,632,649.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 12,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,644.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,728 shares of company stock valued at $68,483,403 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $452.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $432.00 to $499.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Mastercard currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $490.23.

Mastercard Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:MA traded down $0.42 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $454.28. 892,217 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,386,084. 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 firm has a market cap of $423.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.40, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.08. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $357.85 and a 52-week high of $490.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $471.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $433.36.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. The business had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.32%.

Mastercard Company 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.