HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Has $13.31 Million Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,586 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 882 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up about 0.7% of HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $13,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,179,138 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $40,640,219,000 after purchasing an additional 377,302 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,288,912 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $17,425,665,000 after buying an additional 257,312 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 2.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,375,053 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,043,972,000 after buying an additional 453,773 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $6,022,224,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Mastercard by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,760,740 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,139,713,000 after acquiring an additional 817,836 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Mastercard from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $640.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $590.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.11.

Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock opened at $540.57 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $492.84 billion, a PE ratio of 38.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $550.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $527.19. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $428.86 and a 1 year high of $582.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. Equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.89%.

Mastercard announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to buyback $12.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.16, for a total transaction of $8,678,774.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,871 shares in the company, valued at $46,692,629.36. This represents a 15.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.