X Square Capital LLC Has $683,000 Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

X Square Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,297 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. X Square Capital LLC’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $683,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MA. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Mastercard by 26,740.0% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 10,736 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $5,653,000 after purchasing an additional 10,696 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Mastercard during the fourth quarter worth about $6,022,224,000. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new position in Mastercard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,008,000. Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 18,152 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $9,558,000 after acquiring an additional 1,207 shares during the period. Finally, AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mastercard in the 4th quarter worth about $1,045,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of MA stock opened at $557.64 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $508.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $550.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $526.28. Mastercard Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $428.86 and a fifty-two week high of $582.23. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The credit services provider reported $3.82 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 9th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.89%.

Mastercard declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program 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 programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MA. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Mastercard from $654.00 to $644.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Macquarie upped their price target on Mastercard from $565.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their price target on Mastercard from $584.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $591.00 to $588.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $606.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total transaction 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 $18,459,292.32. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael Miebach sold 15,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

About Mastercard

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.