King Luther Capital Management Corp Buys 3,480 Shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 55,076 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,480 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Mastercard were worth $23,490,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Mastercard in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Barometer Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Mastercard in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. increased its position in Mastercard by 661.5% in the third quarter. Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. 97.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Mastercard from $525.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Mastercard from $520.00 to $510.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $510.00 target price on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Mastercard from $530.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $497.78.

Mastercard Price Performance

Shares of MA stock traded down $1.74 on Wednesday, hitting $457.36. 924,998 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,422,722. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $425.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.08. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $357.85 and a 12 month high of $490.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $465.81 and a 200 day moving average of $444.82.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.09. Mastercard had a return on equity of 183.70% and a net margin of 46.09%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.23 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Mastercard

In other news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 97,543,308 shares in the company, valued at $47,527,976,823. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 16,037 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $475.94, for a total transaction of $7,632,649.78. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 12,255 shares in the company, valued at $5,832,644.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 200 shares of Mastercard stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.25, for a total value of $97,450.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 97,543,308 shares in the company, valued at $47,527,976,823. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,573,580 shares of company stock valued at $715,722,727. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.