Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. Acquires 659 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 95,698 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 659 shares during the quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $40,816,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter worth $25,000. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Barometer Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Mastercard in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Mastercard in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 98 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $439.52, for a total value of $43,072.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,235 shares in the company, valued at $2,740,407.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Craig Vosburg sold 13,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.06, for a total value of $6,230,132.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 46,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,388,649.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 98 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $439.52, for a total value of $43,072.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,740,407.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,728 shares of company stock worth $19,479,753 over the last ninety days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.1 %

Mastercard stock traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $460.24. The stock had a trading volume of 897,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,400,302. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $357.85 and a fifty-two week high of $490.00. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $471.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $433.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $429.35 billion, a PE ratio of 38.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.08.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. Mastercard had a return on equity of 191.22% and a net margin of 44.60%. The company had revenue of $6.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp raised their price target on Mastercard from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Mastercard from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Susquehanna restated a “positive” rating and set a $535.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Mastercard from $433.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Mastercard from $432.00 to $499.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $485.91.

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.