Bernard Wealth Management Corp. Acquires New Stake in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 145 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $76,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,031,915 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,497,160,000 after buying an additional 138,842 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in Mastercard in the third quarter worth $230,000. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 698,210 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $344,776,000 after purchasing an additional 4,861 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 19,897 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $9,825,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $485.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $442.39 billion, a PE ratio of 34.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $549.68 and a 200-day moving average of $528.45. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $582.23.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.71 by $0.11. Mastercard had a return on equity of 188.47% and a net margin of 45.71%. On average, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the credit services provider to purchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup upped their price target on Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Mastercard from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Mastercard from $585.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $607.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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