Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 125,748 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 619 shares during the quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $53,633,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Mastercard in the first quarter worth $25,000. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Barometer Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Mastercard during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $535.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $484.82.

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of Mastercard stock traded down $2.93 on Friday, hitting $465.38. 2,486,361 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,293,737. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $357.85 and a 1 year high of $490.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $471.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $431.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $434.15 billion, a PE ratio of 39.34, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.08.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.08 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.46 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 191.22% and a net margin of 44.60%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is 22.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares in the company, valued at $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total transaction of $97,450.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 97,543,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $435.00, for a total value of $1,740,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,235 shares in the company, valued at $2,712,225. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,728 shares of company stock valued at $19,479,753. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.