Principle Wealth Partners LLC Has $2.12 Million Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Principle Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,979 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $2,124,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PGGM Investments boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 105,618 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $45,047,000 after acquiring an additional 3,992 shares during the last quarter. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,192,000. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 9,465 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $4,037,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,603 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $684,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dohj LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $374,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 12,255 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,644.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total value of $7,632,649.78. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 12,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,832,644.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares in the company, valued at $47,527,976,823. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,630 shares of company stock worth $168,746,490 over the last ninety days. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $462.42 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $431.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $357.85 and a 1-year high of $490.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $471.35 and its 200 day moving average is $436.61.

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

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Mastercard from $504.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Raymond James increased their price target on Mastercard from $452.00 to $504.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $535.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. KeyCorp raised their target price on Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $490.23.

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.