Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC Purchases Shares of 151 Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA – Get Rating) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 151 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $54,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Mastercard by 217.4% in the third quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 280.0% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 37,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 27,263 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth raised its stake in Mastercard by 34.0% during the 3rd quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 134 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Core Alternative Capital bought a new position in Mastercard in the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Wealth Quarterback LLC grew its stake in Mastercard by 186.8% in the third quarter. Wealth Quarterback LLC now owns 152 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. 73.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard stock traded up $1.47 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $350.49. 3,109,333 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,957,634. The firm has a market capitalization of $342.60 billion, a PE ratio of 40.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $357.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $352.07. Mastercard Incorporated has a one year low of $305.61 and a one year high of $401.50.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 27th. The credit services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.17 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 122.90% and a net margin of 46.00%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 10.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 30th that allows the company to buyback $8.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the credit services provider to reacquire up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 8th will be paid a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 7th. Mastercard’s payout ratio is 22.37%.

In other Mastercard news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 15,310 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.26, for a total transaction of $5,515,580.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 155,060 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $383.74, for a total transaction of $59,502,724.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 480,490 shares of company stock valued at $181,379,981 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Mastercard from $448.00 to $449.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 28th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $455.00 to $430.00 in a report on Friday, January 21st. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $453.00 to $447.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 28th. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of Mastercard from $400.00 to $380.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 20th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on Mastercard from $465.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $429.20.

Mastercard Company Profile (Get Rating)

Mastercard, Inc operates as a technology company. The firm engages in the payments industry that connects consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and business. It offers payment solutions for the development and implementation of credit, debit, prepaid, commercial and payment programs.

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