IMS Capital Management Purchases 94 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

IMS Capital Management raised its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 4.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,346 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. IMS Capital Management’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. VitalStone Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 60 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Performance

MA traded down $0.39 on Friday, reaching $462.02. The stock had a trading volume of 3,808,080 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,706,904. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12-month low of $359.77 and a 12-month high of $490.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $446.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $456.83. The company has a market cap of $429.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.09.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.34 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 46.45% and a return on equity of 179.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Mastercard from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Argus raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America cut Mastercard from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $505.00 to $480.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. William Blair upgraded shares of Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $490.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $507.27.

Insider Transactions at Mastercard

In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 138,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.19, for a total transaction of $62,540,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 92,152,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,762,504,462.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 138,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.19, for a total transaction of $62,540,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 92,152,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,762,504,462.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Craig Vosburg sold 9,028 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.06, for a total transaction of $4,072,169.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 58,940 shares in the company, valued at $26,585,476.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,462,228 shares of company stock valued at $1,110,349,560 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.