Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions LLC Makes New $215,000 Investment in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 430 shares of the credit services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MA. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 120,665.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,041,758 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $3,971,020,000 after purchasing an additional 8,035,099 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 1st quarter valued at about $660,652,000. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 145.6% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,777,468 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $784,148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053,616 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Mastercard during the 2nd quarter valued at about $259,071,000. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its position in Mastercard by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,293,617 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,586,107,000 after purchasing an additional 387,317 shares in the last quarter. 97.28% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Mastercard Stock Up 0.3 %

Mastercard stock opened at $521.89 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $504.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $471.18. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $395.55 and a 1-year high of $534.03. The company has a market cap of $479.01 billion, a PE ratio of 39.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The credit services provider reported $3.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.16. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.27% and a net margin of 45.26%. The firm had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.39 earnings per share. Mastercard’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Mastercard Incorporated will post 14.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 9th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 9th. Mastercard’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MA shares. TD Cowen increased their price target on Mastercard from $533.00 to $567.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Argus raised Mastercard to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Compass Point started coverage on Mastercard in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $525.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Mastercard from $510.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Mastercard from $566.00 to $572.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $549.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Mastercard news, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 90,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $468.80, for a total value of $42,192,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 91,649,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,965,195,590.40. This represents a 0.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Venkata R. Madabhushi sold 4,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $493.10, for a total value of $2,310,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 17,118 shares in the company, valued at $8,440,885.80. This trade represents a 21.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 208,370 shares of company stock valued at $97,749,218 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Company 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.