Cerity Partners LLC Has $192.93 Million Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Cerity Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 369,151 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after selling 4,419 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $192,929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 4.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,497,160,000 after acquiring an additional 138,842 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,917 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,835,000 after purchasing an additional 3,562 shares during the period. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in Mastercard during the third quarter worth $230,000. Finally, Zacks Investment Management grew its holdings in Mastercard by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 43,748 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $21,603,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction of $3,813,337.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 34,524 shares in the company, valued at $18,459,292.32. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total value of $8,678,774.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DZ Bank raised Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $640.00 target price (up from $614.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Macquarie raised their price objective on Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $606.11.

Mastercard Trading Down 7.7 %

NYSE MA opened at $489.94 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $446.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.27, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s fifty day moving average is $550.92 and its 200-day moving average is $528.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $428.86 and a one year high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its 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 net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. Equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard declared that its board has authorized 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 buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is presently 21.89%.

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.