Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Stake Lowered by IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd decreased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 858 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 53 shares during the period. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its position in Mastercard by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 65 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, FPC Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 483.3% in the fourth quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 70 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. This trade represents a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,292.32. This trade represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MA shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, March 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Trading Down 3.0 %

NYSE MA opened at $540.57 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $550.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $526.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a twelve month low of $428.86 and a twelve month high of $582.23. The stock has a market cap of $492.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.92, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. Equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that allows the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

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.