Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. Acquires 1,363 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 189.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,082 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,363 shares during the quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 87.4% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 536 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Everett Harris & Co. CA boosted its stake in Mastercard by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 49,539 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $21,129,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its stake in Mastercard by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 12,124 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $5,171,000 after purchasing an additional 2,337 shares during the period. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Fortune Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,853 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,350,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Finally, Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 42,752 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $18,041,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $535.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $432.00 to $499.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $490.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.15, for a total value of $50,743,650.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 97,432,308 shares in the company, valued at $44,541,179,602.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 111,000 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.15, for a total value of $50,743,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 97,432,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,541,179,602.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of Mastercard 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 completion of the sale, 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 have sold a total of 257,630 shares of company stock worth $118,303,470 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Mastercard stock traded up $5.87 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $462.62. The company had a trading volume of 2,027,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,400,298. The firm has a market cap of $431.57 billion, a PE ratio of 38.63, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.08. 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 one year low of $357.85 and a one year high of $490.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $471.66 and a 200 day moving average of $434.80.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 22.32%.

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.