Elgethun Capital Management Has $433,000 Holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Elgethun Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 822 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Elgethun Capital Management’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Polymer Capital Management US LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth $201,000. Trek Financial LLC raised its stake in Mastercard by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Trek Financial LLC now owns 2,539 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,337,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,267,937 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $11,725,627,000 after acquiring an additional 912,856 shares during the last quarter. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,360 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,822,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polymer Capital Management HK LTD bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $211,000. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Monday, March 10th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Mastercard from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Mastercard from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $606.11.

Insider Activity at Mastercard

In related news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,459,292.32. This trade represents a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,692,629.36. This trade represents a 15.67 % 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 Stock Down 7.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MA opened at $489.94 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $446.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.27, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $582.23. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $550.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $528.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

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

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $12.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the credit services provider to repurchase up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.