J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Buys 690 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 26.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,276 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 690 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $133,000. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 29,520 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $12,591,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,508 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $1,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,767 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eukles Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Mastercard by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Eukles Asset Management now owns 14,424 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $6,152,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on MA. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $535.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Mastercard from $490.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $545.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $510.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $490.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 98 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 6,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,740,407.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Ajay Bhalla sold 98 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 6,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,740,407.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 7,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.92, for a total transaction of $3,736,447.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,672,828.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 148,728 shares of company stock valued at $68,483,403. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $455.39 on Friday. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1 year low of $357.85 and a 1 year high of $490.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $471.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $434.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $424.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.49, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.08.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.08 by $0.10. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.60% and a return on equity of 191.22%. The firm had revenue of $6.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.35 earnings per share 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 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.32%.

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.