Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) Shares Bought by New Age Alpha Advisors LLC

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 26,740.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,736 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,696 shares during the quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $5,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at $6,022,224,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $837,017,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Mastercard by 79,739.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,555,277 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $818,962,000 after acquiring an additional 1,553,329 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,079,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,674,932,000 after purchasing an additional 581,697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,899,438 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $2,532,541,000 after purchasing an additional 565,717 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA opened at $540.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $492.84 billion, a PE ratio of 38.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $550.58 and a 200-day moving average of $526.65. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $12.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MA. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Mastercard from $572.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, March 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.11.

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.