Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Stock Position in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA)

Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,124,227 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 167,538 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.56% of Mastercard worth $2,698,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MA. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,796 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $946,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. R.H. Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Mastercard in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,630,000. Rockingstone Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Rockingstone Advisors LLC now owns 4,927 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $2,594,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 422 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sawyer & Company Inc boosted its holdings in Mastercard by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc now owns 6,967 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $3,668,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.28% of the company’s stock.

Mastercard Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE MA opened at $581.71 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $534.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $534.95. The company has a market capitalization of $530.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.06. 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 Incorporated has a 52-week low of $428.86 and a 52-week high of $583.50.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The credit services provider reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.12 billion. Mastercard had a net margin of 45.71% and a return on equity of 188.47%. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.31 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Mastercard Incorporated will post 15.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Mastercard from $618.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Mastercard from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $620.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $635.00 price target (up from $591.00) on shares of Mastercard in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mastercard has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $606.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Sandra A. Arkell sold 150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.45, for a total transaction of $85,417.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,024,394.75. This represents a 4.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Grunde Mclaughlin sold 7,132 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $534.68, for a total value of $3,813,337.76. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,207 shares of company stock worth $12,664,529 over the last ninety days. 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.