Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Increases Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,351 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $28,324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Mastercard by 46.4% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,785 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $7,120,000 after buying an additional 4,685 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the first quarter worth $2,938,000. Allegheny Financial Group LTD purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter worth $209,000. Choate Investment Advisors lifted its position in Mastercard by 32.4% during the first quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 30,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $14,447,000 after purchasing an additional 7,334 shares during the period. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 8.9% in the first quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 7,477 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,601,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total transaction of $2,310,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,440,885.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Mastercard news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 109,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.45, for a total value of $50,952,050.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 91,924,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,970,017,774.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 327,370 shares of company stock valued at $153,495,958. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $524.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The company has a 50-day moving average of $499.68 and a 200 day moving average of $468.84. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $386.74 and a 12-month high of $528.84. The stock has a market cap of $481.64 billion, a PE ratio of 39.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.27 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.39 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 19.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $591.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on Mastercard from $496.00 to $532.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $500.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $532.00 to $533.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $536.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $540.17.

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.